Masculine Color Trends Challenge Card

Found a great new blog with challenges and thought I would give it a go this week.

The site is  http://embellishmagazine.com/blog

It looks like there's lots of fun stuff going on over there and I can't wait to check it out more!
Hopefully the challenge is still "alive & kicking" because I can't seem to find the cut off date anywhere :)

This is the challenge; "Masculine Color Trends"

~ Here's the "boy" card I created with the interesting colors ~

CTMH supplies were used, and harmed, in the creating of this card.
Colors are Garden Green, Grey Flannel, Tulip and darn it I can't think of the blue ... lilac mist maybe? Stamp set is "a little of everything" and "true beauty" I think.

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my card and have a delightful day!

Play Date Challenge #74

Thank YOU Play Date Cafe for Another Great Challenge!
Well, not lovin' what I came up with for this challenge ...
but I'm going to call it a day and move on to something else :)

First I tried a gatefold card, embossed the white to give it the feeling of this beautiful building in the inspiration pic ... thought about doing little flower pots, cutting them out and then using flower soft on the flowers ... but I went for a bike ride with the kids instead and when I came home just ended up using my cricut to make the little center doily and flourish and quickly stamped the little sentiment, (Verve stamp) ...

didn't like it so tried it again the opposite way ...

still didn't like it so decided to go back to the flower pot idea ... decided I was too busy to cut out all those little pots and play with flower soft today so played around with a gatefold and regular fold card base and a couple different looks.

Nothing fancy ... but I played ... and that's a few more cards done and ready to go when I need them :)

Oh! Sentiments are all by Verve, flowers and pots are some cheap-o random stamps I bought for the kids to use, paper and inks are by CTMH; colors: sky, white and petal, and a touch of bamboo.


Thank you very much for looking today and have a happy tomorrow!
Sorry the pics are not great and the colors aren't turning out ~ I have been BEGGING my husband to build me a light box for months! Urgh.
I think I'm going to withhold .... dinner .... until he makes me one!
XO

♥Autism♥Support♥Educate♥Advocate♥Love♥
~ Autism Awareness Day is April 2nd ~

OH BABY! Heart 2 Heart Challenge

Oh Baby! Oh Baby! Oh Baby! Oh Baby!

This week the theme is BABIES over at the fantastic Heart 2 Heart blog.

As much as I have really been trying to stay focused on layouts, I also needed to make some new, sweet & simple, baby cards. With any luck I may still have time this week to create a page or two also. It's not looking promising though.

These cards didn't turn out at all as I had first planned in my head ... I was constantly interrupted ... I had a layout in mind, & lost it, colors in mind, lost 'em, stamps in mind, couldn't figure that out either ... got called away and left stamp pads open, urgh, got distracted and stamped in the wrong spot, darn! So, these four cards, are so different than my original plan but will at least do in a pinch I guess.

~ Love Is Family ~

All supplies used are CTMH. Colors are Sweet Leaf, ButterCup, Hollyhock, Sky and Heavenly Blue. Stamp sets are "Over the Rainbow", "Welcome Baby", "All My Love", and "Priceless Love Word Puzzle".

Thank you so much for looking and comments seriously make my day so please, feel free :)

Heart 2 Heart friends, did you know that Autism Awareness Day is almost here? If you would be so kind, I invite you to please learn something new about Autism today. Share it with someone you know. Wear Blue on April 1 and/or April 2nd. Light your home up blue for those days. Celebrate all the fabulous, smart, amazing, wonderful people in our world with Autism! Celebrate my two little guys and all the phenomenal progress they have made and continue to make ~ I could not possibly be any prouder! Celebrate families with Autism; I am so blown away by how completely fantastic and special and patient my big boys are with their little brothers! We are so BLESSED!

~ Celebrate Awareness & Learning & Everyone's Beautiful Individuality ~

My two little boys have Autism. Did you know that ASD now effects 1 in 110 children, 1 in 70 boys? We, as a global community, need to do more to learn more about what is causing Autism today.

I have started a small web page though Autism Speaks and our family has a goal to raise $500 for this great organization in the next week. Every dollar counts. Your dollar could be the dollar that makes the difference! All donations will be issued a tax receipt by Autism Speaks and we would be very grateful. Thank you.

Here's the link to our page if you would like to donate:
http://blue.autismspeaks.org/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=ckLOI6NRIfJ2G&b=6612519&sid=8nLEJOMsEfJJJTMoEhG

Have a delightful day today!

Play Date Cafe Challenge # 73! ..... and .....CASE Study Challenge #31

Here is the challenge from the Fabulous Play Date Cafe Challenge this week: (Thanks PDC for the lovely colors!)And here is my take on it ... Pretty Kitty Card ♥ For my wonderful Mother-In-Law who loves the pretty kitties! The stamp is by Verve and I just used the Cricut and CTMH paper, colors: Creme Brule, Petal and Vineyard Berry ... I thought they matched up pretty good :) The little wee "pearl" is also CTMH. Not too fancy since it's still spring break and as you might imagine, I'm not getting a lot of my kind of "play time" in with 4 boys under foot! Too busy with boy play time Like tubing in the snow, bike rides, exploring the river, Science World and wave pools ... Anyhow, Thank you so much for looking and please feel free to make my day and leave a little comment. Thank YOU.

By the way, I couldn't start a fresh post today?? Weird ... and I'm running out of time so have added this to my last freshest post ... please don't disqualify me from either challenge :) I never do this and I'm afraid if I wait, I won't make the challenge. Forgive me.


Hello Today to YOU :)
Just a quick shout out for "light it up blue" ~
Two weeks until Autism Awareness Day my friends. This is of course a subject very near and dear to my heart ♥ For more information, or to make a donation to Autism Speaks please copy and paste this into your browser:

http://blue.autismspeaks.org/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=ckLOI6NRIfJ2G&b=6612519&sid=8nLEJOMsEfJJJTMoEhG

You can help our family reach it's fund raising goal and help raise awareness and fund valuable research ~ Any and All help is very much APPRECIATED! Thank YOU!


~~~~~~CASE STUDY CHALLENGE!!~~~~~~~

Lovin' the inspiration for this week! The fun summery colors, the gorgeous ribbon slide, pretty bling, the paper piercing, the layout all gave me motivation and inspiration to create my page. Now, although I do have a sewing machine, I have never quite gotten up the guts to sew on my pages ... I really thought I could do it this week but alas ... with 4 boys underfoot and oh-so-demanding 24/7 .... Spring Break ... this is not my week to try. So I stamped and then paper pierced to give the look of sewing. (Hanging head in shame ... I'm a sewing chicken)

This is the Inspiration:
Lovely isn't it!?!?

And this is the layout I created incorporating the ribbon, the slide, the bling, the curvy bottom, the paper piercing, the sewing, (I faked it!), the tag look, the summery paper and the over-all layout. Thanks for looking and if you are kind enough to leave a little comment, thanks so much! :)

The adorable little person is my Michael, now six years old. He and his identical twin brother both have Autism. I know there are so many good causes today that really need our help but if you are able and/or willing to give a little something up this week and make a donation to Autism Speaks ... I would be extremely grateful. Thank YOU!
Hey, have a HAPPY day today! :)

H2H Challenge - From Your Heart to Ours

This week H2H is hosting their From Your Heart to Ours challenge. This is an opportunity for you to share not only your artwork, but also a little story or information about your artwork and yourself. The theme this week is Home Decor.

Well, short & sweet about me since it's Spring Break here and I have four very busy boys underfoot ... and I can barely get out of the kitchen for five minutes let alone into my scrapbook room! They are eating me out of house and home!

I am a stay at home Mom of 4 wonderful boys. My two youngest boys are twins and both have Autism. They all keep me on my feet and running but I feel so incredibly blessed, constantly, to have such an amazing family and such beautiful and loving boys. They are my life, my inspiration, my motivation and everything in between. God has blessed me greatly and I appreciate every challenge, every opportunity and every triumph with all my heart and soul.

For the challenge this week I will share a "white board" that I made about a year ago for the twins. We constantly focus on the positive around here. I try to always give my attention to whom ever is doing the "right" thing instead of giving negative attention to whomever is not. So if one child is focused on their work and one is not, I don't say, "so and so, please do your work" I say instead, "so and so, I love how you are so focused on your work!" to the child that is, and the one that's not doing what they're suppose to catches on super fast. Clear as mud? I do this with my teenagers too ... and my husband for that matter ;) Anyhow, my little guys, with ASD, are 6 and one of our "maintenance" skills we work on are the days of the week and the months and the weather, and neat printing. So I made this that they write on with dry erase markers. I use the right side to "surprise" them each day with some positive things ... "I am proud of you for sitting nicely", "You impressed me today by using your 5 point scale", "It is wonderful when you clean up on your own" ... You get it I'm sure.

The paper I used was "tinkering" I think ...and I'm sorry, I can't remember the Stamp sets ... it looks like I used 3 sets here. The words and sun were cut out with the Cricut. It's big, over 2 and half feet wide. It was just a quick thing I quickly made up to serve a purpose ... I'm afraid I don't really have anything else that would count as "decor" as I only really make layouts and cards ...

Thanks so very much for looking.

Oh! I completely forgot! I have made something else; although, it is not 100% CTMH ... Is that okay? :)
A good friend of mine sent this message to me by email and it really hit home with me ... so I decided to make it into this, see below, and put it up right where I walk in and out of my laundry room/mud room. It's on an old wooden framed chalk board and it looks really cool! (this is before I stuck it to the board) Gorgeous message isn't it!?!?

PDCC72 ♥ The Play Date Cafe ♥ Challenge #72

Well this week I was, as always, challenged by the Play Date's color choices ... but I powered through and ended up going the quantity over quality route! Lots of cards and two layouts, (really trying to make layouts before cards this year .... but I also was running a little low on birthday cards too) Anyhow; ALMOST two layouts ... I haven't finished the one yet but with 4 boys under foot this spring break I have to post now or never!

Another personal challenge for me this year is to use up stamp sets that I have had for over a year and haven't even opened! Terrible! So this week I opened up the CTMH set with the cakes and cupcakes and went to town. (And I even took a photo of the things I used since I am always so naughty at remembering what I used and writing that in for you lovely people!)

All very basic here this week, plain old paper, inks, stamps, and a blending pen. Colors: Smoothie, Sunset, and Outdoor Denim for inks and paper. (In the last, not yet complete, layout - I tried Pacifica for the blue ... I kind of wish I had chosen that color from the start but I forgot I had it and really interpreted the challenge color to be more of a darker navy blue ...) Thanks for looking! I'm off to have a shower ... four o'clock in the afternoon and I haven't even had a shower yet! These boys are keeping me BUSY! ♥

Heart2Heart Scrapbooking! WooHoo! How have I missed this!?!

Looks like there's a new tab for scrapbooking at the wonderful heart2heart blog and as my new goal is to be completing layouts and focusing on my photos, I just had to play too!

I stamped the hearts to put in the corners as instructed but couldn't bare to cover up my little guy's adorable toes. :) So I added them to the center instead. Hope that's okay. And I originally printed out the journalling on vellum and laid over the printed paper which was also originally at the bottom of the first page, but you couldn't read it very well, even after I laid another layer of vellum under the first ... so I decided to flip flop the pattern paper so my journalling could be read.

Thanks for looking!

Case Study Challenge #29

This beautiful card above was the gorgeously amazing inspiration.

As I have not previously joined the paper accordion flower bandwagon, yet have always admired these pretty embellishments from a far, I decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to try creating one ... which quickly became some! I also thought it would be fun to add some pizazz to the edges so used a punch before folding. I kind of like how they turned out, below, but I do not know how I will mail this very successfully. I tried to include both the accordion flower and also the soft, shabby chic kind of colors in mine ....

Here's my take on this week's Case Study Challenge:

Thank you so much for looking and please leave a comment if you're so inclined. Your kind words just make my day :)

H♥H Times 3 Challenge: And I'm not going to be Late this time!

"We want you to use three different stamps to create a scene on a card." ~ That's the super duper new challenge over at Heart2Heart this week. Check it out!


Ooooh Weeee! Fun Challenge ~ And just look at me at the front of the pack this week!
I realized that I'm very bad at letting you kind and lovely folks know what supplies I'm using ... sorry about that. I'm going to try and get better at that or at least take a photo of my toys before I put them away.
For this card I used paper and inks from the gorgeous Spring Blossom Selection. Except my tree top is Sweet Leaf. The rest of the colors are Tulip, Creme Brule, Lilac Mist, and Sorbet. The stamps sets I used are Thank You and Over the Rainbow and Tree Tops. The paper punch, the adorable little hand holders, is by Martha I think. The clouds are pop dotted along with the little row of peeps and the "thanks".
There, played by the rules 100%.
Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to have my scrap booking room back up and running ... almost ....
Thank you and have a completely delightful day!
I'm all hopped up on cold medication by the way. Excuse any typos or weirdo things I wrote today.
Oh, and if you're feeling really kind ... I didn't get last week's challenge up till today and I think I'm too late ... but I really struggled with those darn colors and got 'er done so if you want to take a quick peek and click on older posts and look at what I did ... it would be really darn friendly of you. Thanks!

Heart2Heart Challenge ... maybe I'm too Late :(

New Heart2Heart Challenge ... that apparently is already an old Heart2Heart Challenge! Anyway, here it is; sorry I'm late ... maybe someone could set me straight and let me know if we have all month to play or if it's just by the week.




So, yes, this is the ♥2♥ challenge but I think I'm a still a little stuck in the color splashing idea challenge from Play Date Cafe ... here's what I came up with. My new personal challenge is to complete a layout before I make a card so. These colors were more than difficult for me to work with but I gave it my all. I have had PhotoShop for over 4 years and rarely ever use it but was inspired by a post at PDC where the "artist", (we're all artists right!?!?) used a black and white photo and then just had one or two items in color. I have always wanted to do that! So I googled it and successfully did this photo in less than half an hour. I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Thank you for looking and especially thank you if you happen to be one of those kind and wonderful people that leave a nice comment. That is always very much appreciated. :)