A Sunny Little Easter Greeting /NAC #34 / My Challenge # 64

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Hey y'all! Happy Tuesday. I hope you had a safe and enjoyable and restful holiday weekend. I stayed busy and am in training all week but am so excited to be posting to my favorite challenge (over with the fabulous ladies over at Nacho Average Challenge) early this week with a quick and easy and I hope you'll think, cute little card. It goes with a project that with any luck, I will get posted later this week, however, this class has a test associated with it so we'll see. Augh!!!!!

Here's this week's project-

Easter Egg Treat Holder with
3 x 3 Easter Card featuring Everybunny Stamp Image and Sentiment

This week's challenge with the Nacho's was a color challenge. Normally not my favorite kind of challenge but I am so ready for spring right now, I was so excited when I saw what they had for us-

I stamped my sweet little bunny in Black Staz-On on a 6 x 3 piece of Very Vanilla c/s and then used my Blender Pen and these colors to just brighten my day! I added a touch of Sahara Sand for shading outside the lines and a tad of Basic Gray for her shading lines on her ears and face, although you really can't see it even with the big picture below. Otherwise just the 3 colors in the challenge. I love how the blender pens allow you to change the intensity of your colors and to layer them until you get just the level you want. *HappyDance*

Oh, just in case you were wondering, the little egg is a basket made with the 2 tags die and the oval framelet. I made them for my team swaps this past weekend and when I saw the colors for this week's challenge I thought it would make a cute set, so I decided to make another set. I'm sure someone will enjoy it. At least I hope they will. :)

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed today's card and I hope it inspires you to make a little something fun and cheery. If you liked it or have questions about it, I hope you'll take a moment and leave me a comment in the space below. I read all of my comments and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project 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 the storms than the peace the 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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Multi-Tasking & "Carry-ing On" for the Nachos / NAC #33 / My Challenge #60

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday. I hope you're having a great start to your Holiday weekend! As usual it seems like I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in but you know there was no way I wasn't going to make time for my some of my favorite peeps, The Nacho's. That's right, I've been with them since the beginning and they are feeling like family.

On a little side note.... Can I just tell you I even got cards from some of them while I was recuperating from my recent surgery? Yep. Now, I'm not talking, e-cards. Nope! I'm talking, honest to goodness handmade-with-love cards, you know the ones we make, and put on our blogs but usually end up siting in our craft rooms and not in the hands of others for some weird reason. And even the ones that didn't send cards sent get well messages. So sweet! Thanks so much to the Nacho's and to all you Fabulous people who have managed to stumble upon my little corner of bloglandia. You are the reason I want to keep coming back to this key-board and "carry-on". And with that, here's this week's card,

I really surprised myself with how this came out. I didn't sponge any edges, nothing. And after I decided which set I wanted to use it came together just like I wanted. Yea! I used the Carry On, Hostess set from the Big Catalog and the DSP is from the Sycamore Street Set in the Sale A Bration Catalog. I used some of my favorite colors, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo (my all-time fav) because they are all retiring soon. The solid color squares are all adhered with Dimensionals as are the smallest squares with the stamped images. For the square with the sentiment I double stacked the  Dimensionals on the outside for added height and used Mini-Glue Dots on the inner edges. Oh, and all of this was layered on a piece of Very Vanilla c/s 4 1/4 x 11 scored at 5 1/2.

Here's a little closer look-

I love playing along with The Ladies at Nacho Average Challenge. They always have great challenges and lots of great DT inspiration too. This week is certainly no different. Here's this weeks great sketch-

I simply flipped the sketch on it's side. Other than that, I stayed absolutely true to it. :)

Here's a look at the inside-

I have two words for anyone who thinks I might have stamped those words without my SAMJ.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! &

NOT

SO, I misjudged and started the words a little high because lets face it, when you lay the stamps out there's all that extra space around the words and I didn't want to run out of room at the bottom. This is one reason I don't like to do one layer cards on the onside, no room for oops! The good news is no one will likely ever see the inside of the card as it will most likely end up in my office to remind me to just "carry on".

Did you get the title? If you're talented enough, especially at home with a good enough internet connection you can Create, have your cake (cupcake) and shop all at the same time, and sometimes you even get to shop for your stamps and get extra stuff for free. Thats the best, :)

Well, that's al I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card, and I hope it inspires you to try something just a little different than your normal style. If you liked today's card or have questions about it I hope you'll leave me a comment at the bottom of this post. I read all of your comments and they really do make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin this card, I've put those buttons on my page for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome. :)

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of bloglandia. 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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WIndow Shopping for NAC #32 / My Challenge #59

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday. Just a quick post for you tonight. It's my first day post-op with no nap and I think it's gonna be an early evening for me. Have you joined the fabulous team over at Nacho Average Challenge yet? They are my absolute favorite challenge and I am so happy to be able to say I have played with them every week. There's still a little time to play, and if not today hopefully you'll play along with us soon. :)

Here's my card for this week-

Here's this week's challenge colors-

I can't remember ever using Rose Red, however I must have since there was ink in the lid. What a shame, since it's a really pretty color. I just got the new Dress Up Framelets two days ago, and I thought this would be a great chance to use such pretty colors. I used the floral vine from Elements of Style (the first time this has been inked up) and stamped it in Rose Red all over a scrap of Very Vanilla c/s. Then I was able to move my "sleeve-less" dress framelet all over it until I found an area that I liked for the dress. 

Here's a laugh at Shan moment for you- actually two of them 1- I decided to be a little different from everyone else. I know you're having a hard time believing that one, huh? LOL! 2- I didn't let my OCD rule me on this project.

I decided to be a dress designer for this card. Many of you don't know this, but when my daughter was younger and skated competitively, I made some of her competition dresses. I didn't have a dress form which may account for my problem today. (explanation to come) Here's a close-up of my focal-point-

This actually started out as a sleeve-less dress. I changed it to a sweet-heart neck-line and I did it free-hand, no measurements, nothing. *happy-dance* Then, I changed it up even more and although it's hard to see in the picture I made it a one-shoulder dress and printed a small 1/4 inch strip of c/s and wrapped it from one side to the other. 

*TIP* Dress Forms  are meant to design on. If you decide to design your own little dresses with these forms make sure to use the form as part of your design. My dress didn't fit on it at first, so I had to undo the strap, attach the dress to the form and then re-attach the strap. Live, Learn and Share, Right? 

I punched the little flowers from a scrap of Raspberry Ripple with my Bitty Punch Pack and rolled them with the end of my punch (my pokey one). They are adhered with Mini-Glue Dots. The dress form is cut from Basic Grey c/s and I then sponged it randomly with Basic Grey to give it dimension and age it a little. 

To be honest, after I had this part of the design done I didn't know where I wanted to go with the card. Because there was so much going on with the dress, I wanted the rest to be fairly simple, I just didn't know "what to do". Then I remembered a card by Connie Stewart and another by my dear friend Michelle Suit where they created an awning. So, I decided to try and make the card look like a store window. I tried to create it from memory and unfortunately I don't think I got the measurements quite right. :( I'm gonna have to try it again.

You know, I keep it real with you here. Some of the cards I have created here for NAC have been some of my All-Time favorites, others not so much. Unfortunately, this is one of the latter. It's not that I dislike it, I think it's more that I was just getting frustrated because it wasn't coming together for me like I wanted it to. I think if I can get the awning right I can make another card with this combination and make it happen. Will try again. :)

Well, that's all I have for you today. 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

Serendipity Take #2 for MDSM6

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Hey y'all.
So, you can't link two pictures to the same blog url and since I ended up with the serendipitous (yep, I used a big word, lol) 2nd page I had to do a quick little 2nd page so I could add it. If you didn't see the first one somehow, don't forget to check it out too. Id' love to hear which you liked the best. :)

Take #2-

Here's the sketch I was using-

Well, this time this really is all I have for you today. What do you think? I hope you like it and I hope the two design teams like it too. I hope it inspires you to try something new with your MDS, if not today, soon. If you liked today's project or have questions about it I hope you'll take a moment to leave me a comment in the space below. If you'd like to +1 it or Pin it, I've added those buttons to 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. 

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MDS Today -A Snowy Mt. Vernon & A Little Serendipity / MDSM6 / SMDS #11

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Hey y'all. How are ya? I hope you're doing good. I'm soooo sorry I haven't been around! To be honest, I fully expected to get lots of stamping and crafting done while I was home recuperating after my recent surgery. As we have seen from my recent blog activity, or rather the lack-there-of that was not the case. In fact, I am finding the need for at least 1 nap a day and some days two. My surgeon tells me this may last for another month or so. :( Don't get me wrong, I love naps, I just love taking them when I want to and not needing to take them. I also don't like, not having any energy to do the things I really love. It will get better, eventually. I'll hang in here if you will. :)

So, while the seemingly simple act of cutting card stock, stamping it and adding embellishments doesn't sound too taxing it somehow ends up becoming so. MDS to the rescue again. This at least, I can do while I'm sitting on the couch watching t.v.  I was recently talking with an old friend about a trip my daughter and I took to Mt. Vernon 8 years ago and it reminded me of the pretty pictures I took. When I saw this week's sketch over at MDSM I thought it would be a nice one to highlight a few of my pictures from that trip. I also used this week's challenge over at SMDS Challenges to use elements from only 1 digital kit on my page.

Here's this week's MDS page-

Here's the sketch I was working with-

I simply rotated the sketch and flipped the pictures. I used the Days to Remember Digital Kit. I don't normally use a lot of embellishments on my pages and I held true to that on this page as well. The sentiment and the numbers are embellishments and all of the DSP's are from the same kit. I didn't manage to use any stamps from the set, but I was still very happy with how this page turned out.

Want to know what I was even happier with? While I was trying to recolor the sentiment I accidentally changed the background color instead. You know what happened? Serendipity....A Happy Accident-

I think in a dark blue or grey frame this would be even more striking. I love how easy the align button made this page. :)

Well, that's all I have for you today. What do you think? I hope you like it and I hope the two design teams like it too. I hope it inspires you to try something new with your MDS, if not today, soon. If you liked today's project or have questions about it I hope you'll take a moment to leave me a comment in the space below. If you'd like to +1 it or Pin it, I've added those buttons to 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 Pin It