Dot Spot - Curtain Call #41

After a busy week, Sunday came pretty quickly!  Time for another Curtain Call Challenge!  Here's our inspiration:

I immediately thought Dot Spot from PTI, so I didn't strain my brain and went with that!  This will make the perfect birthday card for my brother-in-law come October.  He loves blue and I think the dots will appeal to his analytical side (he has a P.H.D. in physical chemistry.)

Let's see what the rest of the Crew has for us this week!

Amy White @ Devlinwhite Designs
Andrea Roose @ Andrea Scrap - und Stampel-Blog
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) @ Random Acts of Creativity
Julie Smith @ Paper and Such
Lea Lawson @ Lea's Cupcakes & Sunshine
Marisa Ritzen @ Rosemary Reflections
Melissa Hubert@ My Paper Obsession
Sue Kohler@ My Inner Reflection

And our August guest designer.  Teresa Kline @ Enjoy the VA Sunshine

And our leader....Stacey @ Stacey's Stamping Stage

Remember, if want to join us, link to your creation on Stacey's post.  At the end of the challenge period she will choose 5 great projects that will earn the Curtain Call Show Stopper badge.  One talented person will get the Lead in this week's Curtain Call!

Show CASE - Punch Art by Julie

Hello everyone!  I survived the water park.  In fact, it was a lot of fun.  We got to experience our first water coaster and it was a blast!  I'm sure feeling my age, though.  After lunch I was so tired!  Took a nap under the umbrella and I was done for the rest of the day! The kids had a great time, of course.  The bonus for the day was that RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa) was coming through the area and the waterpark parking lot was a stopping point for the riders.  This is a BIG deal in Iowa and really across the country.  Lance Armstrong rode in it last year???  It's actually something I should add to my "bucket list" because it looks like so much fun!

Until then, how about something a little less labor intensive?  How about a Show CASE card?

When free time is in short supply, a card CASE (Copy And Share with Everyone) can be the perfect way to have a little fun!.  Show CASE is my personal attempt to have that time for stamping, without of the pressure to create something totally original.  I want to pay tribute to the many talented stampers out in the blogosphere that are so inspiring to me.  I hope you enjoy seeing my "take" on their creation.

Today's card came from Julie @ Julie's Stampin' Spot.

My changes:
I had trouble with her rubber band rolled background, so I used DSP.
My fishies are slightly different color.
I used the small heart punch which wasn't available when Julie made hers.

Check out Julie's original card HERE.

See you soon for the Curtain Call!

Happy Heart Birthday

I've been trying to make my niece's birthday card all week. Every idea I had went nowhere. Then, I was in a corner, I HAD to do it. I decided to try something really out of the box. In the process, I managed to accomplish three challenges.

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge.Plus, Just Us Girls - Stitching Challenge.
Along with Crazy 4 Challenges - Birthday Challenge.My out of the box technique was to cut out my stamped and colored elephant image from Happy Heart Day and mount it onto a patterned paper. Have you noticed that three of the patterned papers I used is some sort of polka dot? What can I say, I like my polka dots! I think the color combo is bright and cheery. I allowed myself to play with my scraps and didn't over analyze my color choices. The colors I used are: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose and Rose Red. I did cut my ribbon a little short, wish I hadn't done that, but I decided to "let it go." After all my niece is two! Let's be sensible here!

I don't want it to happen my posting streak might come to an end this weekend. I'm going to an all day auction on Saturday. Plus, hubby keeps asking me about taking down our Christmas tree. We'll just have to see! Until then, have a great weekend!

Scrapload of Thank You

Happy Friday!

I have a free day today! I had convinced myself the only stamping I would do until further notice would be Christmas cards. I like seeing all the different Christmas cards out there, so I had plans to do my part. Well, that didn't happen! I decided to make mini thank you cards instead. You see lately I have been selling quite a bit of my auction finds on Ebay and I like to include a written thank you to encourage the buyer to leave feedback. Perfect excuse to make some cards! Here's what I came up with!
Plus, it's a great way to use up scraps. You know how much I love to use my scraps. So, I had a blast making these. All done this morning! In fact, I made so many I didn't get 3 of them in the picture.

It took me a card or two to get the mojo flowin'. The first ones I made were just so-so. With every card came lots more ideas. I'd fall in love with a layout and then make several, changing them ever so slightly....to use up more scraps!

The dimensions of most of the cards are 2 3/4" x 4 1/4", one quarter of a sheet of cardstock.
This floral from Pocket Silhouettes was already stamped and in the scrap file!

Same goes for this brocade from Friends 24-7. The only thing I stamped was the sentiment.

Just enough to accommodate a few lines of thanks.

So, the day is only half over and NOW I'm ready to work on some Christmas cards. I hope to be back soon!

Kristina's Color Inspiration #3

There are so many techniques out there that I have not done. Today's card for Kristina's Color Inspiration is one of those techniques I have to try, at least once. It's the Baby Wipe Swipe. I used a wipe for each of the colors: Orchid Opulence, Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie. I had read that you are to use reinkers, but I just used my ink pads. The stamp set, Inspired by Nature worked well in Basic Black. My biggest challenge was squeezing in the Whisper White. I tried to keep that to a minimum because even a little bit REALLY stands out.

I had to take this picture at a really strange angle so you can see into the circle I punched in the front of the card. Inside is a Rose Red flower from Flower Fusion with a Pumpkin Pie eyelet in the middle. The stamp is from Think Happy Thoughts.

I feel like I'm in a rut with my cards, doing a challenge almost everyday is challenging! No time to take breather and just let the ideas flow. So, I may CASE a few cards in the next few days. I've seen a lot of great ones lately! On the other hand, maybe I'll try another new technique. Who knows!

Think Happy Thoughts - Ribbon Fraying Leftovers

My card today is using the leftover "eyelash" portion of the ribbon fraying technique I from Jeannie's cards (see post of 11/27/08.) Once again my inspiration came from Angie Juda's Stampin' Academy.
During her tutorial she mentioned how she would find a use for the scrap left behind when you fray the ribbon. Otherwise, I probably would have thrown it away! Thanks once again, Angie! I placed adhesive on a separate 1 1/4" circle then began pressing the "eyelash" into the adhesive, from the outer edge working in. I jazzed it up with the scallop circle punch, punched additionally with and 1/8" punch on each petal. Also, making "rick rack" with the scalloped edge punch. I added the faux stitching along the bottom. The stamps I used are the background Stitched and Think Happy Thoughts. Fun little card. I crammed a lot of techniques in this one!

Thank You Notes Day 3

For todays thank you note I used the cute little birdie from Always. I do love that set, there are lots of goodies to play with. I stamped directly onto the designer paper. A really easy card. I can't wait to give these cards away. I do have two more cards I made for this set, so stayed tuned for those over the next couple days! Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You Notes Day 1

I made a set of thank you notes, cards of several designs but generally using the same color scheme. So, I'll be posting new ones for a few days. This card is my favorite but it didn't start out that way. Initially I had a scrap piece of designer paper on the left side. I just couldn't do anything with it, so I took it off. I knew it would tear up the layer beneath a bit. I went with the big white circle and it covered most but not all of the blemish. That's when I stamped the little flower from Delight in Life on the Rose Red background, to camoflage my boo-boo. Funny how things work sometimes.