It's Birthday Time at Sentimental Sundays!

This week Ann challenged the Sentimental Sundays design team to make birthday cards! We have several new design team members participating in this week's challenge so be sure to stop over and check out all the wonderful inspiration and the great freebie sentiment set that Ann has posted for you. Here's my card:



Card base is Cajun Craze with a Layer of Pacific Point and some wonderful Basic Grey dp. I double stamped the sentiment using More Mustard and Cajun Craze to try and add some dimension. Sentiment is on Very Vanilla and mounted on Cajun Craze, both cut with my nesties. A little Very Vanilla ribbon and some bling and she's ready to go out in the mail!

Tomorrow is new challenge day on the Kaboodle Doodles Challenge Blog so be sure to stop by and check out our newest challenge.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

I couldn't help myself ...

I saw this card by Kittie Caracciolo and I immediately knew that I was going to case it. Elegant and gorgeous (as is everything she creates), it was love at first sight. Here's my interpretation:


I wanted a bit more color and have been itching to use my new Pinefeather paper and ribbon from PTI - it reminds me very much of Handsome Hunter, a wonderful SU color that has now been retired. In fact, you really could not tell them apart if compared side by side! I used a panel of white and added a panel of white embossed with the dotted swiss embossing folder and mounted on Pinefeather. Then I used my nesties to create the frame and image panel, stamped the trees from Scenic Season (SU) in Handsome Hunter and popped up the frame with dimensionals. I punched some nice ferns with one of Martha's punches and added some gold baubles. I kind of like it!

I've been fighting a nasty cold since we got back from Wyoming and haven't had much energy to be creative. It's a good thing there's talent like Kittie's out there to get me off my duff and creating again!

It's going to be a really fun day at Sentimental Sundays tomorrow, so be sure to stop by and there's a new challenge coming on Kaboodle Doodles on Monday too!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Where I was this weekend ....

I was privileged to be in Laramie, Wyoming to witness the marriage of my niece Amy Dumbroski to Gabriel Alsina. What a gorgeous wedding! The ceremony is one I will remember for a very long time. So personal, so beautiful - as was the bride. Take a look:





Well, I'm back in colorful Colorado and ready to get my fingers inky, so watch for some creations coming this week in preparation for Christmas card workshops coming up very soon!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Sentimental Sundays is Distressed!

This week, Ann challenged us to do something and distress it! I recently got some fun new Tim Holtz toys and thought they would be perfect to use to make a project for this challenge. Here it is:


Card base is Very Vanilla with a layer of Chocolate Chip and then an embossed layer of Close to Cocoa (sadly retired). I used the TH brick wall embossing folder and rubbed it with a Tea Dye distress pad. I added some lace (also rubbed with the Tea Die distress pad) and a flower. The flower was cut using a Tim Holtz die from some Gina K digi paper and then inked with Tea Die and Antique Linen and I added an antique brad from SU. The sentiment is from Great Friends (SU) and I inked it up as well and added some brads.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Indulge this Proud Grandma please ....

This is a video that was posted on my daughter-in-law's facebook page and it chronicles the early days in the lives of my twin grandchildren - Isabella and Julian. They were born at 29 1/2 weeks and were so very tiny. They are now 4 and thriving, active and totally delightful children.

They have since been joined by little brother Justice (whom you have seen several times on this blog) and I will put up some more current photos of these wonderful kids next week. This video made me cry to remember how very fragile these two were when they first entered the world - and also to realize how vibrant and alive they are today. Enjoy!



Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

And yet another Chat inspired card....

I am in love with this flower and this color combination! Here's another card inspired by the fabulous Chat:


Lots of family in town for my niece's wedding this weekend, son, mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephew - busy time and posting may be a bit sparse and my visits to your blogs may be a few days behind schedule, but it's for good cause!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Status Report - Only One Week Left!

There's less than a week left in Cammy's blog candy contest to help her raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I grabbed this off her fund raising page to show you how close she is to her goal:


Here's the inspiration for this effort - isn't she just the sweetest?


Please pay a visit to the Pink Room Therapy blog and get involved in this great cause. The total on the prize packages up for grabs is valued at $1,700!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Tags challenge at Meljen's Designs

This week's challenge at Meljen's Designs is to make a tag! I'm really in the fall color swing and so I made a card that incorporates a tag using some fall colors and a cute freebie image from Meljen's Designs. Here's my card:


Card base is Chocolate Chip with a layer of More Mustard and some Basic Grey dp from the Max & Whiskers collection (of course). The tag is a nestie cut from Pumpkin Pie with the image popped up and colored in my digital design program. I added some More Mustard ribbon and some gems from SU to finish it off.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Clean & Simple Challenge #112

Another challenge card! This week's challenge at the Clean & Simple Challenge Blog is a gorgeous sketch.





Here's my card using this sketch:


I used some left over pieces from last week's downline meeting and some more of the wonderful Elegant Soiree dp from SU to create this little 4x4 card.

Card base is Very Vanilla and the dp is layered on a piece of Baja Breeze. Sentiment is from my vast collection of SU sentiments that fit in the wonderful oval punch and is layered on a Baja Breeze scallop oval. A little Very Vanilla ribbon and an Antique Brad and this card was an epls card!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Sentimental Sundays time!

This week the challenge on the Sentimental Sundays Challenge blog is to use black, white and one color. I also am using this card for the current challenge at the Delightful Inspirations and the Double Delight Challenge blogs to use my free digi image and create a card celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness month. Please go by the Delightful Inspirations blog and get involved in this challenge. It is part of the "Hope You Can Cling To" challenge on Splitcoast Stampers for such a good cause.


Card base is Basic Black with a layer of Whisper White and an embossed layer of Melon Mambo. I colored the flowers in my digital design program and printed it out and layered it on Basic Black. The sentiment is one of mine and part of a Breast Cancer Awareness set that you can get by clicking on the image below.
Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

The cat can come out of the bag ....

I mentioned in my post about my downline card here that I would let you all know where the inspiration came from. Well now I can. The fantastic Renee Van Stralen accidentally put up a card on her blog and took it right back down again, but in that teeny time it was up I saw it in my Blog Reader and I grabbed it and went with it. Here's her card and you can click on it and go to her blog post about it:


I just loved this card but when I went to find it again so that I could give her credit for inspiring me, it was no where to be found. I emailed her and got the low down on what happened and assured her that when she posted her card I would be sure to let all my readers know where the inspiration came from.

So now you have it - go, go right now, and visit her blog and check out all the gorgeous creations she has there to share with everyone.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Pixie Cottage and Basic Grey

I made this little 4x4 card for the challenges at The Pixie Cottage and Basic Grey this week:


The Pixie Cottage challenge was this sketch - isn't it a fun one?

Card base is Chocolate Chip with a panel of Basic Grey designer paper from the Max & Whiskers collection (destined to be one of my all time faves). I cut a lacy circle from More Mustard with my nesties and layered it on a 2" punched scallop circle and the image (from Days of Gratitude from SU) is stamped in More Mustard on Whisper White and punched with a 1⅜" circle and layered on a 1½" circle of Pumpkin Pie. The leaf is cut from a nestie and embossed with clear ep and layered on a piece of Pumpkin Pie. The sentiment (also from Days of Gratitude from SU) was stamped on Whisper White, sponged with More Mustard and layered on a piece of Cajun Craze.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Downline meeting swap

Here's my card for this month's downline meeting swap:

Card base is Always Artichoke with a panel of Riding Hood Red that I wheeled with the Music Notes wheel. The image is from the Bells & Boughs set and was stamped on Naturals White with black Stazon and colored using re-inkers and an aqua-painter. I brushed Champagne Mist on the edges of both the Always Artichoke panel and the oval that the sentiment is mounted on. The sentiment is from the All Holidays set. I punched a strip with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch and brushed it with Champagne Mist as well.

I will have more information on the inspiration for this card later on.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Double Delight Challenge

The gals over on the Double Delight Challenge Blog have challenged us to use this week's free digi on a card using blues and greens. Here's mine:


I've had fun playing with this image from Designed 2 Delight this week. There is also a digital set to go along with this called Willow Whimsy and I hope to make some cards with it very soon.


Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Downline Meeting Make & Take Project

We have our monthly downline meeting on Thursday night. This will be my very first meeting where I'm in charge - our former fearless leader has moved to Indiana and I am attempting to fill her shoes - we'll just have to see how that all works out! I'm a bit nervous as her shoes will always be way too big for me to fill - she is an awesome lady and we all miss her enthusiasm, talent and good nature.

Anyway - here is my m&t project for this month:



Card base is Soft Suede with an embossed (Square Lattice) panel of Very Vanilla and a piece of Elegant Soiree dp trimmed out with some Very Vanilla gross grain ribbon. The flower is created using pieces cut with the Blossom Party die. The sentiment is layered on two small pieces from the die, the Extra Large Oval and Scallop Oval punches. The sentiment is from the Just Believe set. The flower is Very Vanilla and Baja Breeze with an Antique Brad in the center.

I got my inspiration for this project from a super, duper talented stamper Chat Wszelaki. You absolutely must check out her blog Me, My Stamps and I - every single day her cards end up in my daily "save for inspiration" folder. She is an incredibly talented lady and I can't thank her enough for helping make me a better stamper! Here's Chat's card that inspired this project. I also used this gorgeous flower idea on my Sentimental Sunday's tag project here.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

PPA63 - It's a Fruit Salad!

The current challenge over at Pal's Paper Arts is a color challenge that sounds more like a fruit salad - Melon Mambo, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz. Here's my card:


This was more challenging than I thought it would be at first glance. The image is from this month's collection for Hugclub members at pcCrafter. It's called Late Bloomers and wow are there some great images in it. I loved these petunias! Card base is Melon Mambo. Image is printed on white and layered on Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz. I used the Lots of Tags Label 1 die along with the Modern Label and Word Window punches for the sentiment which is from the Just Believe set. The dp is from the In Color pad and is punched with a MS border punch.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Sentimental Sundays - Today it's TAGS!

It's new challenge day at Sentimental Sundays, and this week Ann has challenged us to make some tags! With the holidays coming up, handmade tags for all those lovely gifts would surely make them even more special. Here's my tag for today:


Be sure to stop by the Sentimental Sundays blog and check out all the great tags made by the design team. There's a freebie (up for just this week) and if you play along, you have a chance to win some great prizes from Ann!

I'm having a Holiday Mini workshop at my home next weekend and one of the gals has asked if we could make some tags, so you'll probably be seeing some more in the upcoming week.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

More Challenges

Needless to say, I've been having some fun doing challenges this week. Today's card is no exception and is for some more of my favorites, Delightful Inspiration where I got to use the cute image I earned by playing last week's challenge and Crazy 4 Challenges C4C58 - Birthday Challenge.


The card base is Poppy Parade - rapidly becoming my go-to red this season. I love it! I used my nesties to create the layered medallion using white and Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade. I also used some Daffodil Delight ribbon. I created the background by making a watermark from the digi image and printing it on my cardstock. I also got a chance to use one of my new toys (gotta love those 50% off coupons) to punch out the holes for the ribbon. It is a spring loaded hole punch and I got some ribbon shaped punches in various sizes to use with it. Fun being able to punch holes exactly where you want them and not have to use a hammer to do it!

Well hopefully today will be full of creativity as I have tons of fun things to prepare for my upcoming downline meeting, Holiday Mini workshop and Holiday Stamp Camp. This is the kind of busy that I really, really like! I'll throw in a little laundry and cleaning too I suppose. DH is taking advantage of today's wonderful weather to work on his garage/driveway project so we should both have a productive weekend!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Holiday Stamp Camp card

Six demonstrators (me included) have gotten together every spring and every fall to hold a stamp camp at a local church. This year's camp will be on November 6 and will feature wonderful holiday cards for everyone to make and take along with lots of door prizes and fun! Here's the card that the folks will be doing at my table this fall:


Card base is More Mustard and the accent strip is Cajun Craze with the oak leaf and the spatter stamps from French Foliage stamped in Cajun Craze and some lace and brads added. The Always Artichoke scalloped squares are cut using the new scallop square die in the Holiday Mini catalog and the image scalloped squares are stamped in AA with the text stamp from French Foliage and then overstamped with the small leaf in Always Artichoke, More Mustard and Cajun Craze. The sentiment is from the Days of Gratitude set - also in the Holiday Mini. I think that everyone will have fun making this quick and easy card.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Couple more challenge cards

I'm on a roll I guess. Here's a couple more cards for some fun challenges. Up first is a couple of cards for One Layer Wednesday over on Susan's blog Simplicity:



These were created by printing a row of dingbats from my overwhelming font collection, adding some scoring lines and sentiments done with gold embossing powder. I added some metallic ribbon to the Christmas card and some little gold beads to the centers of the apples. EPLS! (easy, peasy, lemon squeezy in case you need a translation).

Next, I made a card for the current challenge over on the Delightful Inspiration blog. If you like working with digital images, you really should check this challenge blog out. Each time you participate in a challenge, you get the next challenge image free! How can you possibly go wrong with that. Here's my card using this week's image:



Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Member:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.