Happy Birthday Nacho / NAC #52 / PPA 161

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! I hope your week has started out wonderfully.

It has been a rough few days for me with the loss of a friend and Hero. Many of you know I used to work as the Chief Nurse for the DEA-Drug Enforcement Administration. This was my All-Time Favorite job. While there I got to meet the most Amazing people. One of them was James "Terry' Watson. He was killed in a robbery attempt in Bogota, Colombia last week and he will be laid to rest tomorrow morning. I haven't made a card to post in memory of him yet because it has simply been too hard to contemplate this loss for any length of time. I am, however, pleased to say they have captured a 5th person in connection with his vicious attack and murder. The world lost a truly wonderful person and prayers for not only his physical family but his DEA and Law Enforcement Family will surely be appreciated.

That being said, I was really needing something bright and cheery. Tonight's card is just the ticket. It's hard to believe it's been a year since my blog-pal Tammy Fite and members of her team started Nacho Average Challenge. I have played along with all but a few of the challenges including the dreaded Color Challenges. :) When I saw this week's challenge I was so excited to see what I could come up with even though it was a color challenge. I rarely check out the DT's creations because I don't want to be influenced by them. I'm glad I did tonight though, because Tammy used one of my favorite sets and one I would have liked to use. Instead of using an old favorite I went with New favorites. In fact, everything I used tonight was if not technically "new" at least new to me. I'm sad to say some of these products have been waiting to be used for months. :( But, I think it was worth the wait and I hope the Fabulous ladies over at NAC do, and I hope you do too.  Here's my Happy Birthday Wish to the Nachos-

I'm so happy with this card. It just makes me smile.

Here's a closer look at my fun new products-

Honeycomb E.F., Pool Party Core-Dinations Paper,
Sketched Birthday and Delightful Dozen

Here's the challenge I was working with-

I seriously love this color combo. I have ideas for other cards using it. The only reason I didn't keep creating tonight was it's late. Oh well, the week is early. I also used this sketch from Pals Paper Arts-

I was sad to hear that the Nacho's are taking the summer off, but I'm hoping to meet up with them at Convention in less than a month. Woo-Hoo. You know what? They're going to be looking for some New Design Team Members when they start back up in September. Why don't you check them out, and play along. You might just be a Nacho Average Design Team Member. :)

In case my card wasn't enough to make you smile, here's a picture of my little Nacho. 

Bet you're smiling now  :)  Love this Girl!

Well, that's all I have for you today. Hope you liked my card and hope it inspires you to play with some  of your new or newer goodies. 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 your comments make my day. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :) Don't forget to check out all the great entries at today's two challenges and play along too. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your 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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A Triple Challenge and A Little Holiday Cheer OWH #99, SQSC #17, PPA #124

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Hey y'all.

Friday is finally here! Woo-Hoo! The cold is coming quickly here in the DMV and we are expected to drop nearly 20 degrees during the day today and maybe even some of the white stuff. YUCK! But, I'm doing a Christmas lunch with my co-workers and counting down to the weekend. I hope you have some fabulous plans for this last weekend before Christmas. Holy Cow, it's so hard to believe it's almost here!

No Christmas card today though, I'm looking ahead to V.D. (Ok, I hope you all went back to High School with me on that one.) Of course, I meant Valentine's Day. Operation Write Home is sending Valentine's Day cards overseas to our troops and they need to be sent out by Dec. 31st. Have you heard about this group? They send cards to our troops so they have beautiful handmade cards to send home to their loved ones. They also send cards to our Hero's from us, to thank them for the Amazing Job they are doing. Check them out. Here's their Sketch Challenge for this week-

It doesn't happen often for me, but as soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do. I just needed to flip the whole card on it's side and I'd be in business. This really doesn't happen often for me so I was really excited. One of the things I also really liked about the challenge sketch is it gives dimensions on it. What a big HUGE help that is, especially to someone like me. This of course meant I didn't have to do any math to try and figure out my dimensions. Thanks OWH!

However, While I was waiting to get a chance to stamp, I saw this sketch over at Stampin Queens-

I thought "It's kinda similar to the OWH one, just flip it on it's side too, skinny up the middle layer and stretch out the top one." Are you seeing it?  Now if you  have followed me at all, you know I usually don't see these kinds of connections. I'm usually a very literal interpretation kind of girl, so I was really excited that I might be able to do 2 challenges with one card. The only thing it didn't have was the little accents in the corners. I hope they'll forgive me for not using them.

And then I saw this sketch over at Pals Paper Arts and thought "No Stinking Way! 3 challenges from 1 card?" Here's the PPA sketch-

Here I thought "If I just flip the layout of the top layers side-ways, ( a quarter turn counter-clockwise) I think it will work."  And you know what? I think it does!

What do you think? Here's my card-

Can I just say, it turned out just like I saw it in my head, and it came together so quickly too. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I started with a base of Real Red and then a layer of Pretty in Pink for my strip, which I adhered with Tombow. I then used my LOVE Letterpress Plate and my Big Shot to create the center panel. I inked it up with Real Red classic ink (although I do believe it probably does work better with the Craft Spots) and ran it through. This was, sad to say, the first time I had used this plate, but I will definitely use it more. I popped this up with dimensionals and then added my large Red Glimmer Heart which was left over from my Valentines Day swap a few weeks back. I used a few dimensionals on this too.

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but there are embossed hearts on the pink layer. I made a Textured Plate with the backing from our DSP packs and my small heart punch. I did an End of the Week Technique on it a while back. You can check it out HERE if you haven't seen it yet. The hearts are all turned randomly on 3 lines (yeah, random was really hard for me here, because there are a lot of hearts!) and then glued down. Here's a look at what the strip looks like-

Ooops, it looks like I  showed the debossed side :-)

Here's a closer look at the card-

Just a little added touch of the unexpected and since I made it myself, I know no-one else will have one just like it.

Here's the inside of the card-

As I currently own just one Valentine's set that's what got used even though it's from last year and is retired. I used Real Red for my ink and let Tink do her thing at the bottom. Now, if this card was actually being shipped to OWH I wouldn't have been able to use the Dazzling Diamonds, I would have just used a small Glimmer heart instead.

So what do you think? I think I pulled it off. I always wondered at how people could get 2 or 3 challenges out of one card. Most of them are sketches and color challenges or mashups, but I think I managed to get 3 different sketches out of one card. I'm enjoying this because I'm sure it will probably never happen again!

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

Today's Card recipe-
Cardstock- Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Red Glimmer
Ink-Real Red
Big Shot- Love Letterpress Plate
Punch- Large Heart
Accessories-Tombow, Dazzling Details, Two-Way Glue Pen

Now back to the holiday's for just a moment. Ever get a phone call and you look at the number and go???????

That happened to me yesterday when I looked at the caller ID and it was my home number. Now I know my studio assistants are pretty talented and Duecey actually likes to talk on the phone, but him calling me, well that would be one for the record books. And, as I'm an empty-nester, (except for Deucey and Bitty) I knew no-one was in the house unless my resident ghost had decided to call and there again, one for the record books. So I answered the phone to find my sis on the other end. *WHEW!* She was calling to tell me she was dropping off a surprise, but where could she put it so the babies wouldn't get it for the next few hours because Bitty was already playing with. We finally came up with a hiding location, but I was going bonkers trying to figure out what she possibly could have left for me that Bitty Kitty wanted so bad.

I got home and found this-

Ok, I actually found it in the spare bedroom so Bitty wouldn't play with it and brought it up so I could take a picture. Do you know what it is? It's the Charlie Brown Christmas tree! With the little red ornament and Linus' blankie around the bottom. You know what else? It plays the Charlie Brown theme.

My sis had got us both one and it was just in time for me to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas on t.v. last night. She is so AMAZING!!!! Really, Just the Best!

Here's the cute card that came with it too. Just right for my studio assistants-

I was laughing SO HARD! I loved my early gifts and just wanted to be able to share them with you all. I hope they bring a little joy to your day. Remember also, to Just Dance, and to dance like no-one's watching.

I hope you have a Great weekend filled with Family, Friends, Lots of Love and of course plenty of time for designing!

Till next time-

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It