Sympathy Color Challenge / NAC #50

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a great weekend. I spent the afternoon stamping with my stamping bestie, April. We were working on our Convention swaps. I'm so excited about them and can't wait to get them completed and ready for my first SU Convention.

Know what else I'm excited about? Getting my card made for this week's entry in the Nacho Average Challenge. It's the small things in life that make you happy and I have to say that every time I get my card done for the NAC challenges, I'm a happy girl. Last week I crashed on the couch and slept past time to get my entry in. :( Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post though to see what I created. Here's this week's entry-

Unfortunately, my co-worker lost a family member this week, so I was in need of a sympathy card. These are always so hard for me to do. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I think I will end up adding some small pearls to the flowers but I didn't have time to do that and get this post done in time. Here's a surprise fact for those of you that know me. I didn't use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig when I did the sentiment.  Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! Once again, it's the small things in life. 

Here's what I was working with for the challenge-

Most of you know that I'm not a fan of color challenges but all things considered, I think I did ok with this one. I'm sure I will use this combination again later in the year come fall. In fact, I already have some ideas in mind.

Like I said earlier, I had a MAJOR FAIL and didn't get to enter last week's challenge. That really bummed me out because as soon as I saw the sketch, I knew what I wanted to do. That rarely happens for me. Hopefully my fabulous friends over at NAC will still be reading and will see what they inspired even though it's late. Here's the sketch-

And here's what I did with it-

My daughter's a HUGE Dr. Who fan and she even got me hooked. She turned 21 this week and I wanted to make her something special to commemorate the big day. I'll post more about this card later but let me just say she was ecstatic when she saw it (even though there's only 1 sun instead of 2).

Well that's all I have for you today. I hope you like them and I hope the fabulous ladies at NAC like them too! If you liked today's projects or have questions about them, I hope you'll take a moment to leave me a comment below. I love hearing from you and read all of your kind comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin them, I've put those buttons on my page for you. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Here For You / NAC #48

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! Another week has come and gone and that of course means it's time for another Nacho Average Challenge entry. It's always such fun to see what they are going to bring each week and the Amazing ideas from their design team. This week is certainly no exception.

Do you ever have an idea for a card or project and you can see it in your mind and it comes together just like you visualized? That doesn't happen very often with me, but today it absolutely did. The only thing that I hadn't visualized was the sentiment, but I think even that turned out. Let's see what you think. Here's this week's NAC entry-

I used the Pleasant Poppies stamp for today's focal point. I kept the rest of the card pretty simple because I wanted the poppies to really be the star.

I stamped just a portion of the stamp in VersaMark and then used Black Embossing powder to set the image. I used my blender pens to color in the image. I really love how easy it is to get so many color variations and a watercolor effect with them even on plain card stock. I used the Petite Pairs for my sentiment and my Ticket punch to create a label and border.

Here's this weeks challenge-

You know how I like pretty insides, so I had a little fun in there too-

I'm so excited by how this card turned out. Love when that happens. :) What do you think? I hope you like it and I really hope the fabulous NAC DT do too. Of course, since this is a Nacho post, I have a picture of my sweet little Nacho too-

She's turned 2 months old on the 30th. I can't believe how big she's getting!!! I miss my sweet little girl. Luckily her momma sends me pictures almost every day and we get to Face Time too. (Thanks Apple!)

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card and it inspires you to get creative. If you have questions or comments, I hope you'll leave me a message below. I love hearing from you and I read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Sent with Love / NAC #47

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a great day and a great holiday weekend.

Do you ever have ideas just rolling around in your head for a card or project waiting to get out? I did this week. I had a couple of different ideas planned for this week's Nacho Average Challenge entry and boy was I excited.  Then I got busy with Spring Cleaning and trying to get the house ready to sell and before I knew it, it's after 10pm. :(  Does that ever happen to you? I had even been thinking up lots of cute ideas for it since it's such an awesome sketch. I don't know about you, but when that happens there's usually just one thing to do. MDS to the rescue. This isn't what I had planned on, but I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. Here's this week's entry-

Now many of you know that I hate mixing DSP's. I love it when others do it. I just don't feel very proficient at it. But I tried it today. Guess what? I think I just might end up making this with my matching DSP and stamp set. 

Here's the sketch I used-

What do you think? I love this sketch! So many possibilities. I hope I get to make some traditional cards with this layout like I had planned. I may even try to do a little scrapbook layout with my sweet little Nacho.

Speaking of....guess who's almost 2 months old? 

Oooohhhhh! I just want to eat her up!!!!! I sure do miss her. We got to Face-Time today and she's starting to giggle and smile and make cute noises. My sweet little Nacho.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card and I hope it inspires you to try MDS the next time you're in a crunch. If you liked today's card or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a message below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Pretty Flutterbys /NAC #46

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! I hope you had a great week. It's rainy and yucky here in the DMV but I've got some bright, summer, colors to brighten your day.

Do you have those people that just make your day every time you see them? I'm lucky to have a few of those wonderful people at work. Two of my favorites are Sasha and Alex. These sweet ladies work at the Starbucks at my work. Do you know what that means? It means at least once a day while I'm at work I get a big 'ole reason to smile. Sometime more than one, depending on how my day is going. This week's color challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge was just the thing to get my creative thoughts going. Here's what I came up with-

I broke out my New - Best of Butterflies stamp set and had a little fun. Now those of you that know me, know I don't like random stamping or color challenges, but I used both tonight and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the results.  I used some of our Melon Mambo ribbon from our Spring catalog, and my Apothecary Framelets and Designer Label Punch. The sentiments are from the Perfect Words set. It has such a fun font and the sentiments are so sweet!

Here's the great color combo for this week's challenge-

I am sooooo glad Island Indigo is going to be around for a while. It's my all-time favorite color. I would have never thought to pair it with the other two colors, but WOW! I like it and I'm sure it will be used more this summer.

You know I like to have the insides of my cards be pretty too, so I added a few sweet butterflies to the inside.

I made matching envelopes as well, but I did them after I had put my photo box up. I may end up going back and letting Tink add a little love, but if I don't I'm still super excited with how these turned out. I sure hope my friends like them!

Guess what else I have today? If you guessed a pic of my sweet little Nacho, you guessed right. She even matches the color combo in her little Sully outfit. She turned 7 weeks old today and she's starting to smile and giggle. My daughter sent me this yesterday and it just made me smile. I hope it makes you smile too!

Oh!!!!! You're smiling, right!?!  I just want to give her a big HUG!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my cards and I hope they inspire you to create something fun soon. Go ahead and try something new or something you don't do a lot. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised. If you liked today's cards or have questions about them, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I love hearing from you and read all your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's cards I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. you are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Thankful For You / NAC#45

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday. It's been a rainy, yucky, day here in the DMV but I have a bright, cheery, card to share with you today. I spent the evening stamping with my Stampin' Buddy April and we got out my box of Sneak Peek items and had a little fun.

I used the sketch over at Nacho Average Challenge for my inspiration. I have to say I didn't stick exactly to the sketch this time. My card started out with the sketch in mind but kind of got a mind of it's own and veered off course just a little. Luckily, I know my friends over at NAC won't hold it against me too much.  Here's tonight's card-

And here's the sketch I used-

Wanna know a secret? I actually made the card in the portrait instead of landscape mode. That's just how it flowed for my eyes first. But then I turned it to the landscape orientation and decided I really liked it that way too-

To be honest, I wasn't sure I really liked the card at all at first, but then it started to grow on me a little more. I'd love to hear which way you like it the best. Here's a close-up of the sentiment which along with the card base and the DSP is a sneak peek for you-

It says "thankful for you" and I really am so thankful for all of you that stop by and see what I'm up to. Here's another thing I'm Thankful for...Little Nacho-

Isn't she just too sassy!?! She's 6 weeks old today, but believe it or not "Little Miss Priss" had this picture taken when she was only 2 weeks old. Hope she made you smile as much as she does me!!!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card and I hope it inspires you to try something a little different. If you liked today's card or have questions, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Monochromatic Sympathy /NAC #44

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! Hope you had a great week and are having an even better weekend! Just a quick post so I can enter my All-Time Favorite Challenge before it closes at midnight. I'm so excited, I got to stamp some this week! You can't tell it by the sorry state of my blog, but I actually made two cards this week and have actually already given one out. I hope to post it in the next day or so.

This card is going to a co-worker who just lost a family member. Sympathy cards are always the hardest. Even harder than masculine cards, which by the way, was the other card I made this week. I'm on a role I tell ya. I really need to make a stack of sympathy cards & keep them on hand, but somehow when I need one, it just seems better to make one specifically for that person. Just another one of my eccentricities, I guess. This definitely doesn't look like most sympathy cards but when I was talking to my friend about her father-in-law the other day, this was how she made me feel. Peaceful, and light and not at all dark and sad. So even though there is some grey in the card I left it one layer and a white base to keep it light and airy and not dark or weighed down with a lot of layers or extra's.

Here's tonight's card-

Can I just say I love my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for perfect image placement. I could never have gotten the words placed just right without it!!!

Here's this week's challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge-

This was a super simple card. I simply used my Apothecary Accents Framelet to cut out a space on a scrap piece of c/s. (This is why you keep scraps) I used Dotto to adhere it to my base of Whisper White c/s and then sponged Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant inside the cut-out space. Too Easy! Next I inked up my image from the soon to retire set Just Believe in Basic Gray and stamped it in the space. I removed the cut out image, stamped my sentiment from the So Sorry Stamp Set and I was done. Super Simple just like I said. It's probably too late for you to play along with us this week, but make sure to check back in next week and play along. The fabulous ladies over a NAC always have great challenges!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked this week's card and it inspires you to get busy creating. If you liked today's card or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project the buttons are on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, it's about Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-

Shan

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Always A Princess / NAC #43 / MDS Today Back in the Game

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday. Just a quick post today, although that seems to be all I've been doing lately. Hopefully that will be changing soon. It's a migraine kind of day around here today and that's topping off an awful week. Heck I didn't even get out of bed until 4 this afternoon. But, I've missed 2 NAC challenges now & I even played from my hospital bed so what's a little migraine between friends, huh?

My baby girl Eribella has gone with her Mommy and Daddy off to California so I'm a sad, sad GiGi. *tear* *lots of tears actually* so I used this week's challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge to make a card that reminded me of my little princess. For those of you that don't know, her nickname is "Nacho" and believe it or not it was actually inspired by the NAC site and challenge #39. You can read more about it here. I purchased this download earlier this week to make a cardboard baby book of her favorite things and I think it was just perfect for this week's challenge. It took me 20 minutes to create and truth be told, and you guys know I tell it like it is, there's NO WAY I could have made this card in real life in 20 minutes. MDS to the rescue again. Here's this week's challenge card, it's another great one from my friends over at NAC-

I used the Topsy Turvy Kit. I wasn't so sure I liked it when I first saw it in the catalog but now I'm a big fan & the MDS kit is sooooo cute. Lots of extras. Here's the sketch I was working with. I kept to it, just adding the sentiment.

And because I can't talk about my little princess and not share a picture of her, because let's face it that's what GiGi's are supposed to do. Right? Here's she is at her first little Photo Shoot at 3 1/2 weeks old-

Couldn't you just eat her up with a big ole spoon!?!?!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my project and I hope it inspires you to try MDS when you're running short on time and need something fabulous. If you liked today's project or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project the buttons are on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, it's about Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-
Shan Pin It