happy birthday ♥SOS♥!

would you believe the shopping our stash challenge blog is THREE years old already??! i haven't quite been on board since the very beginning like leslie and alica and deena, but i joined midway through the first year and have had a total blast ever since! if you've never played along, i heartily invite you to dust off some of your most treasured older supplies* and see if you can't think of a cool new way to use 'em! this week the challenge is super-simple and perfectly appropriate: we want to see birthday or anniversary cards. easy peasy! here's mine:

(patterned paper: recollections, kay and co, glitz design, pink paislee, making memories + papaya art glitter giftwrap + cool vintage doily from stephanie; florals: prima; leaf diecut: kay and co; brad: my mind's eye; happy birthday rub-on: fancy pants; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i used the current-- and obviously awesome-- sketch from cardabilities (#99):

as well as a super-fab palette (#292) from color throwdown:

i'm not sure you can tell from the photo, but the silver-grey leafy bits in the background paper are actually highlighted with silver glitter. i'm not sure you can tell from this next photo, either, but it's arguably slightly better than the first one. plus it shows the layers on the cupcake, which i really like, lol, so there's that!

something else i really like is being part of the awesome SOS team, so i hope you'll take a little time to visit their blogs, see their gorgeous projects, and leave them a little loooooooove:

alica

barb

chana

chris

deena

donna

jessi

leslie

michelle

thank you, darlings! 

♥♥♥

**hence the name, "shopping our stash"; we're trying to use what we have instead of perpetually chasing the latest and greatest. or, if you prefer, we're using up older stuff to make room for a few new goodies. it's up to you! :)

i may have accidentally cheated a little...

...on the color challenge i'm entering. but we'll get to that. at the moment i'm so excited to have had a little extra blogging, surfing, and unscheduled card-making time this week, that i'm almost giddy! it's all because of the floor re-finishing escapade, of course. because i have to be HERE in the house... but i'm basically trapped in the guestroom to escape the noise and mess. there are definitely worse fates, don't get me wrong!

so yesterday on my SOS teammate jessi's blog i saw the great multiple-sketch scenario to celebrate tuesday morning sketches' fourth birthday and i was determined to play. then i saw the berry berry fun "strawberry farm" challenge at city crafter, and i thought, "oh yeah!". finally, the current palette at color throwdown seemed like the perfect jumping off point for combining the other two. in a wave of enthusiasm, working with my rolling office chair pulled up to the edge of the bed, i made this:

(flower photo taken by me, printed on kodak premium high gloss paper and cut out; patterned paper: echo park, glitz design, basic grey + gingham gift wrap + old book paper that's been misted a bit + a digital music brush printed on inkjet transparency; strawberries: very old pack of glitter rub-ons from the $1 aisle at michaels; punches: ek success, recollections; alphas: american crafts; labels: dymo; washi tape: recollections; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

ok so... for starters, it's not BERRY BERRY strawberry, is it?! nope. there's only one little berry on there!

in my original idea there was a whole border of them!!! but somehow the big flower sorta took over. i've still got the sentiment, though; and to make up, i put some more berries inside. see?

i did a lot better with the sketch part. i chose the one on the lower right, obviously:

admittedly, again, the big honkin' flower really took over, didn't it? i could've trimmed up, but it was so beautiful i didn't quite have the heart, so i just let it burst off the card! then there's the color palette, which is luscious, don't you think?

but you see the problem, right? i think my turquoise shade is more green than it ought to be; the one in the palette is quite a bit bluer. partly it's the way the card photographed, but also, when i saw the palette originally, it was in the evening and on my iphone, so i thought i was pretty close. in the daytime, on the big computer screen, i have my doubts. so i will totally understand if i am disqualified, especially since color throwdown is ALSO celebrating their anniversary... (FIVE years! congrats!) ... and they have some awesome prizes you should really check out!

i'll be back tomorrow with my second card for our JINGLE BELLES cardstock christmas prompt; i'm pretty proud of this one... i actually broke out quite a few rubber stamps, and serious inkiness ensued! ciao for now, darlings!

still flyin'!

at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ that is; we're moving into our second week of the super-fun "flying home for christmas" prompt, for which stephanie and i have made another round of holiday cards featuring something which flies. this week, we've both (quite coincidentally) gone with birds for our focal image. stef chose a beautiful cardinal for her clean and simple masterpiece; whereas i used a glittery papaya art sticker with this super-cute sparrow:

(holiday glitter sticker: papaya art; patterned paper: prima, melissa frances, my mind's eye; cardstock: core'dinations; embossing folder: cuttlebug; pearl gem pin: melissa frances; other: vintage seambinding, sandpaper; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

in addition to linking up at 52 card pick up this week, i have a couple of other shoutouts; for one thing, my layout is based on this week's gorgeous retro sketch:

for another, i'm very much in love with the current palette at color throwdown, though i'm not sure i've quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite got the blues right on my card, so i won't be insulted if i am disqualified on that account. however, i was entirely inspired by them for my choice of colors, which i would not have thought to combine on my own, and i love the results!

speaking of results, if you'd like to have a lovely stack of ready-made, unique, totally beautiful holiday cards which need only to be addressed and mailed in december, why not join us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥?! see you there, darlings!

how do you decide whether to do a side- or top-fold card?

i ask because i only realized last night, midway through what i'm sure by now must be my elebenty-seventh consecutive year of card-making, that i consistently do a side-fold by default, a top-fold when i have an offcut of cardstock that needs using up, and a reverse side-fold (the infamous "left-handed greeting card" lol!) only when i am very, very tired. :)

this one's a top-fold, and thus represents one less leftover 12x4.5" piece of kraft in my cardstock caddy. big win!!!

 (patterned paper: crate, echo park; chipboard tree stickers: recollections; border stickers: my mind's eye; sentiment rub-on: making memories; poinsettia: we r memory keepers; twine: doodlebug; lace: vintage, from m'stash; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

may i say for the record that those sparkly patterned trees might just represent my all-time favorite holiday stickers? they are michaels' store brand, i've gone through AT LEAST 5 or 6 packs of them in the last few years, and i'm certain i will continue to purchase and enjoy them for however long they continue being made! i almost always use the whole pack of 3 at a time... but then... i almost always buy them when they're on a 40% off sale... so i think i'm still up on the deal, fiscally-speakin'!

my layout is based on kimber mcgray's 12.1 saturday card sketch at two peas in a bucket:

i used this week's gorgeous holiday palette (#221) from color throwdown:

and i think that's about all i have to say for the moment, except to wish you a very happy and productive weekend! ciao for now, darlings! ♥

i was hoping to do all *TWELVE* days...

...of the prima blog's 12 days of christmas cards challenge because every single one of the DT examples were amazing and luscious and full of inspiration; but one only has so much time in a day, and i'm proud to have come up with what i feel are pretty good takes on four of them! for today, i've done my version of solange marques' gorgeous round card from day ten. admittedly, mine's not nearly as funky fab as hers, but i've got her round scalloppy edge shape, her cluster of flowers, and (my own version of) her "trees in a landscape" so i do quite like it:

(angelique papers, say it in pearls and pretty window packaging, florals: prima; deco tape: martha stewart; rhinestones: recollections; sticker: crate paper; vintage doily; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

one of my favorite things about prima is that they are constantly thinking about good design on a quantum level, which means that even their *PACKAGING* makes its way into my projects! the inner round panel of this card is made from the pretty pale blue glossy cardstock from some lovely prima resin windows (i used one on this card) and the green flowery card out of a packet of pearl embellishments. and really, if i hadn't told you that, would you have GUESSED those bits were completely FREE??!

i used what WAS the current palette at color throwdown (#219) when i started, forgetting that it would change by the time i got this posted! that doesn't takeaway from its loveliness or its helpfulness, however!

and now the thing i reallllllly have to do is stop making christmas cards, and start writing out and mailing all of the lovely ones i've already finished at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ this year! anyone for some hot cocoa??!? ♥

sweet sunday sketch guest designer!

i was super-excited last week to learn that my vintage-laden "dress of paris" card was chosen as a winner at the sweet sunday sketch challenge, and even happier to learn that such an accolade earns one a guest spot with their uber-talented design team, the sweet sunday stampers! first let me show you the sketch, because it's fab and i know you'll want to play along:

and now here's my card, i've even STAMPED for this one, can you spot where?  (un hint: ou est c'est la tour eiffel?!)

(vintage: sheet music; patterned paper: basic grey; perfume label sticker: laughing elephant; eiffel tower stamp: hero arts (stamped on a scrap of 3m inkjet printer transparency with stewart superior india inkpad) dimensional sentiment sticker: pink paislee; diecuts: k and co; florals: prima; brads: my mind's eye; pearl flourishes: want2scrap; fabric tape: love my tapes; washi tape: recollections; adhesives: scotch gluestick, staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

lest you think i'm so intrepid that i stamped fearlessly right on top of my fancy french perfume label, let me assure you, there's a TRICK: i stamped in permanent ink on a scrap leftover from an inkjet printer transparency sheet, then cut the image out; thus i was able to take my time in choosing where i wanted to add it in to my collage! (note: because you'll be stamping on the reverse side of the transparency-- the pebbly bit, that's designed to hold the ink-- if your image has text it'll be BACKWARDS when you turn the sheet over!) luckily the eiffel tower is pretty symmetrical, so the "flipping" issue was no problem for me.

something else which is never a problem for me is adding in lots and lots of layered embellies; au contraire; in fact, that's kinda my best thing, lol! :) here's a close-up so you can see my collection of diecuts, fabric florals, brads, pearls, fabric tape, and... well... there's a little bit of everything, all stacked up on some lovely vintage sheet music!

i used the palette (and the aforesaid flowers!) for the current color throwdown (#208):

being generally, as you know, a big user and aficionado  of "light red" (lol, sorry, leslie!) i was pretty excited last week to discover a an entire card making blog being run by fellow fans of that color, called in the pink! this fortnight the challenge is anything but square, and you have to go see the absolutely drool-worthy cards being posted over there!

in the meantime, i hope you'll head over to the sweetest thing and grab this sketch, see miss karen's gorgeous card, and check out the rest of the AMAZING design team cards! then start plotting and planning your own card so that maybe ♥YOU♥ will be the next guest sweet sunday stamper!!! ♥