heart..

Hey there! Hope you're having a wonderful week. I've been sick, so it seems like it has gone on longer than it actually has. I was working today on some numbers with my boss and completely zoned out..seriously. When I "came to" I had no idea what we were doing or talking about. Sad...lol. I still feel that way. Ugh..


Anyway, today is the first Thursday of the month and that means it's time for another FYI Challenge. Here is this week's inspiration photo:

I was really struck by the colors and decided to focus on that. Here is my card:

The sentiment is from my Market Street Stamp, Follow Your Heart. I stuck to a pretty basic layout since my brain was NOT about to come up with anything especially complicated in its current state. :)


I hope you will play along with us this week. Check out the FYI blog and see what the other DT members have done! Have a great Thursday...

wedding wishes..

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! Well, it's Thursday and not just any Thursday..it's finally "Breaking Dawn" movie Thursday!!!!! Eeek!

We are so excited to go and see the movie tonight. We've got tickets for the midnight showing and also for another showing on Saturday sponsored by Twilight Lexicon. We're hoping that someone from the actual movie shows up this year as they have in years past. Woot! Today is also a special Thursday because it's time for another FYI Challenge! Here is this week's amazing photo:

It's kind of a "breaking dawn", no? LOL. Here is the card I made for this week:

Ok, so you had to know that I would make a wedding card, right?  I pulled the blue and rust from the photo. Those were the two colors that stood out to me most. I think they work well together,too! 


Well, that's it for me. Thanks for stopping by and check out the FYI blog for all of the DT samples and to play along with us! Have a great day! 

FYI Fall

Hey! Quick post today. It's time for this week's FYI Challenge. Today we have a wonderful Fall photo:

Isn't it lovely? It made me think of a wonderful Fall outdoor wedding, so this card was born:

Be sure and stop by the FYI blog to see what the other designers created. Have a wonderful Thursday!!

FYI & Bugaboo!

Hey! Thanks for stopping in! Well, it's the first Thursday of the month which means it's time for a new FYI Challenge. This week we're sponsored by Bugaboo stamps. They have such a cute collection of stamps and the one I used today is extra close to my heart.  You'll see why in a minute...first, though, here is our inspiration picture:



Isn't that a lovely cathedral? Wow..the vastness of it alone leaves me in awe. Just gorgeous. It actually made me think of the architecture of Hogwarts (from Harry Potter). Specifically, the dining hall. Anyway, so putting that thought together with the image I chose to work with, I came up with this:



Now, if you guys have spent any time here you know I LOVE Harry Potter (um, and Twilight..let's never fail to mention Twilight!), so this was right up my alley. I had SUCH fuin coloring him in. I went a little off script with the red "Converse", but I liked the way they looked..lol. Do you see Hedwig there peeking out? Ack! I love it..so cool.  I also colored my SU ribbon to match the Gryffindor House colors. Oh gosh, really this card was so much fun. You should head over to the Bugaboo site and see all of their stamps. They're so so cute!

Well, that's it for me today. Be sure and check out the blog to see what the other ladies chose and created! Have a great day!

go confidently..

Hey guys! I'm back today with this week's FYI challenge. I didn't get to participate last time, so I was itching to get back to playing with the rest of the ladies. They have some FABULOUS cards to share, so be sure and hit everyone else's blogs! 


Here is our inspiration photo for this week:

Isn't that just gorgeous?? Stephanie picks out THE most beautiful pictures for us to use. This picture made me think of episode of Andy Griffith (one of my favorite shows) where Howard Sprague sees a commercial and decides that he is going to throw caution to the wind and move to a Caribbean island. It doesn't turn out quite like he expected, but the fact that he actually DID it was always cool to me. He at least TRIED it, ya know? I'm not sure there is enough of that these days. ANYWAY...sorry for that ramble..lol. Here is my card:

Thanks for stopping in! 

Harvest..

Hi and welcome to another FYI challenge. Take a look at this week's inspiration photo:

I loved the vibrance of the blue sky, but the yellow and red in the trees sucked me in and I focused on those colors. Here is my card:

The diecut is an MFT called Well Worn dies. There are actually 3 layers to it. On my card there are 2 used: The Terracotta Tile layer is one, then the Early Espresso and Fine Linen is another. All I did was diecut that same shape in two colors, and then I cut the EE layer in half so that I could sort of "mat" the same shape on itself...if that makes any sense..lol. 


Please play along with us if you can. The challenges last for 2 weeks, so you have plenty of time to get going!


I also wanted to tell you guys that this challenge will be the last for Valerie and Wanda!!! They've been a joy to work with, and we are TRULY going to miss them both. We do, however, have two NEW DT coming and they will join us for the first challenge in September!! Yay!

Blue Skies

Hi there! Thanks for dropping. This week is flying by, no? And we've got temps over 100 degrees everyday, so it's a energy drainer!


Today, I have the inspiration pic from this week's FYI Challenge. Stephanie finds THE best photos out there and brings them to us! Look at this week's beauty:

Wow, right? Love the blue skies in this picture, which prompted me to use Verve's Blue Skies set that has been sorely missing from my blog lately. Here is my card:

Do you see the sentiment peeking out there? Heehee...I thought that was cute. :)


So, check us out and play along!

Kind Words

Hi there! Happy Thursday! Ok, is it 100 billion degrees where you are? It is SO very hot here..ugh. I am NOT one for heat and humidity and this summer has been off the charts hot.


Today, I have my card for this week's FYI Challenge. It really reminds me of Fall, so it's one of my favorite inspiration pictures. Just thinking about Fall makes me cooler....college football, chili, cool crisp saturday mornings...I love it all! Here is this week's photo:

And here is my card:

Is that scene not so beautiful? I pulled the grey from the stairs and, of course, the red and tree from the surrounding scenery. The faux texture on the patterned paper also reminded me of the real texture on the stairs...kinda like a concrete type thing, ya know? 


Anyway, please stop in and play along with us. We've got a fabulous photo and would love to see what you do with it. Laters!!

FYI Challenge #9

Hey there! I hope you have had a great week so far. I have a beautiful inspiration photo to share with you from the current FYI Challenge. Take a look at this gorgeousness that Steph picked:

Is that not SO beautiful? Oh, I just love it. The water looks perfect and the sky is brilliant.

I was inspired mostly by the wavy nature of the building and the main colors of blue and orange. Here is the card I made:

Please stop by and join us for this week's challenge. We'd love to see what YOU can make!




Stamps: Think Big Favorites, Fancy Flourishes (Papertrey); Great Friend (Verve)
Card Stock: Pacific Point, Only Orange, Only Orange dsp (SU)
Ink: Versamark and white embossing powder (SU)
Extras: Ricrac die, button, twine (Papertrey)

FYI Challenge #8

Hi there. I love this card and at some point each one of us could use a card like this. This week's inspiration photo is here:

As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to somehow bring the texture of the mountains onto the card as well as keep the natural feeling of the photo.  


I decided to go with an encouragement theme because sometimes it feels like things are really bad and you're out of control, but if you just stay the course and possibly  "go over the edge", that things will get better. So, with that said, here is my card:

This was a pretty easy card to make. I basically made all of the pieces and then scrunched them up to give them that "natural" texture. Easy peasy.


I hope you'll join in with us this week and play! Thanks for stopping by.

For Your Inspiration Challenge # 7

Hello there! Welcome to another For Your Inspiration Challenge! Here is this weeks photo:

Lovely, huh? When I saw the photo the lighthouse stood out as well as the way the sunset is bursting through the sky. My new Tim Holtz paper I bought on clearance at Michael's was PERFECT to replicate that sky to me. It brought together the colors and also the "rays" of sun in a muted way. Look at the card and you'll {hopefully} see what I mean..lol.

I popped up the burgundy and patterned paper layers and then did a little distressing to the spiral paper panel. The sentiment is from the Verve set called Text Objects and it also goes back to that whole "lighthouse/ship/friendship" thing I was going for with this card. Hope you like it.  
Head over to the blog and take a look at what the other DT members have designed. You'll love it! And come and play along with us!! 

For Your Inspiration Challenge # 6

Hola, Chicas! Thanks for stopping in!  Today is my first official post as a DT member over at For Your Inspiration. I'm so excited! It's also the first challenges for Debby and Sara. Yippee Skippee! We have a really great group of stampers assembled. Be sure and take a look and play along with us. There is a million dollar prize if you do. Um..ok, maybe i'll just flash a million dollar smile..lol. :)

Here is this week's fabulous inspiration picture:

Is that not so vibrant and beautiful? Oh gosh..I have always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon. They used to have them here in Nashville every year around my birthday, but I always chickened out..lol. Maybe i'll do it this year if they come. I think it would be so exciting!!! Have any of you guys ever been??

Anywho, so here is what I was inspired to create from this photo:

My initial thoughts were about ascending and that brought to mind this PTI set, Star Prints, and one of the sentiments: Reach for the highest (star). I thought it felt appropriate here. :)

Be sure and see what the other ladies have created. It's all SO fabulous (how many times have I used that word in this post? Any? It feels like i've said it a bajillion times today already..lol). Here are the rest of the ladies:

Debby

Debbie

Sara

Valerie

Stephanie

Wanda

Have a wonderful day! Please come and play with us! :)

FYI Challenge Guest Designer!

Hi everyone!I hope you're having a great Thursday. I am this week's Guest Designer over at the For Your Inspiration challenge blog (hee!!!) and we have a BEAUTIFUL inspiration for you this week. Take a look at this:

Is that not breathtaking? I love the way the sky looks and the church is so gorgeous..just a really great shot of it all. I was most inspired by the sky and the
style of the church. I decided to go with the grey, blue, cream color scheme and to use a quote by the fabulous Martin Luther. :)


Here is my card:

I really like the smokey shadow (grey) with that light blue paper. And of course, the flower. Love those flowers and must stop hoarding them..lol.


If you get the chance to play along with us, please do. The challenges are given every 1st and 3rd Thursday, so there is ample time to be inspired and create something wonderful!

To the World...

Hello! I'm here today with a card I made for my hubby. He won't be home until August now, so I am sending this to him just because I miss him. :)


It also goes along with the inspiration photo from the FYI challenge blog. Take a look at the photo:

Lovely, isn't it? Here is the card I was inspired to make:

Here is a close up of the sentiment star:

I really like this sentiment and I thought the stars worked well with the whole "space" theme. :)

Well, that's it for today. Hope your week is going well! Laters..

Dreams Believed..

Hello and Happy Saturday! I am back from Los Angeles and boy did I miss home. I'm obviously not a big city girl even though I spent the first part of my life in Chicago. I just love the quiet, the open spaces, and the people of Tennessee. :)

Anywho, I am back today with another FYI Challenge card. Did you guys see that I won the first challenge? I was totally stoked. See my blinkie on the left? heehee. It was a great challenge, so I am playing again. You should head over there and take a peek. It really is a cool challenge and because it's an inspiration photo, you are not limited by colors or a sketch - only by your imagination.

So, here is this week's inspiration photo:

Isn't that lovely? The moment I saw it, I thought of graduation. You're looking out on your future. It's so vast and unknown..and all yours. The sky is the limit really right after college, right? It feels like you could do anything and go anywhere...and you can! That's the beauty of it. :)  So, the picture brought that to mind and here is what I was inspired to create:

I embossed the background and also the graduation cap.  Here is a closer picture of that part:

I tried to incorporate the "cloudy" nature of the photo on the sentiment panel, also. So..that's all I have. I have been stamping since I woke up this morning, so I have lots to show y'all in the next few days. :)  Thanks for stopping by..Laters!



Stamps: For the Graduate (Papertrey)
Card Stock: Pale Plum (SU); Black, Vanilla (Papertrey)
Ink: Black (Memento); Pale Plum (SU)
Extras: Ribbon from stash; Bling (want2scrap); Labels 4

Courage..fyi

hello! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and that it is nice where you are. We had temps here in Nashville in the mid 70's yesterday and, though we spent the whole day in the Twilight convention, it was so so nice to have some official Spring weather! Not sure how long it will last and I always think it's funny to see people with flip flops on the first chance they get! I love flip flops, don't you?

Today's card uses this weeks Verve sketch by Maureen. It has a tilted panel, which I love, and room for a flower. I just LOVE flowers. In real life, not so much but as embellishments I am addicted to them. Here is Maureen's sketch:

I also found out about a NEW sketch challenge called "FYI". Teresa Kline is the Guest Designer this month, so I had to play along! This week is their very first one so go over and play along! Here is the GORGEOUS inspiration picture:

Are those towers not gorgeous?!?! Wow. I love this picture!  So, combining those two challenges, I came up with this card:

I wanted to pull the pink from the sky, the shimmer from the buildings, and the bead-like quality of the tower base. I think I captured everything I wanted to capture here. This was a fun challenge and I cannot wait to play again! I hope you guys will check it out. I love challenges and it's always fun to find new ones!

Have a happy Sunday and thanks for stopping by!!!


Stamps: Blue Skies (Verve); French Script bkgd (SU)
Card Stock: Vanilla (Papertrey); Pink Pirouette (SU); 
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Extras: Flower (Prima from Two Peas in a Bucket); Pearls (pizzazz-a-plenty)