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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Tape It for NAC #51

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a great weekend. It's Saturday night and because I'm a slacker that means it's time for another Nacho Average Challenge card. I miss the days when I got to stamp and blog every day.  Today's card has lots of new products to show you, hope you enjoy. Here's this week's NAC challenge card-

I have to say that I'm so happy with how this turned out! Everything is new with the exception of the Whisper White cardstock and the Stripes E.F. Aren't the colors Yummy!?! They're the new 2013-2015 In-Colors. I started with a base of Coastal Cabana. I then created the banners using the other colors- Baked brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush and Pistachio Pudding. Most of you know I hate mixing and matching colors and patterns because I never feel like I do a good job of it. I really stepped out of my comfort zone for today's card and I'm glad I did. :) The patterns on the banners are from the stamp set Tape It. They look like Washi Tape, you just can't tell on here because I flagged the ends. This set was on my must have list and in my first catalog order. Love it!!! The greeting is from the Really Good Greetings set. I am loving all the good sentiment stamps in this year's catalog. How about that ribbon? It soft and stretchy and just all around fabulous. I saw it at this year's Baltimore Regional and new I was going to be getting all of them.

Here's the sketch I was working with-

I changed it up just a little. What a great sketch though. I know I will definitely be using it again and soon. You know I like to have pretty insides too so here's what I came up with-

I stamped my sentiment from Oh Hello in Coastal Cabana onto a piece of Whisper White c/s that I ran through the Big Shot with my New Deco Labels Framelets and my new Magnetic platform. How inspired is that Magnetic Platform? Uh, the answer to that would be, So Inspired!!! I stamped a different pattern from the Tape It set and used those pieces to "tape down" my cut-out piece. Two WOW little factoids for those of you that know me- 1- I stamped my sentiment after I ran the c/s through the Big Shot and I did it without using my S-A-M-J. 2- As hard as it was for me I didn't obsess about the "tape" being in exactly the same place on all 4 corners. I know you're now asking yourself if I really made this card, but I did. :) Baby Steps...

I forgot to add a picture of my sweet little Nacho last week so I've got something a little different this week. I don't know if you watched The Voice this season or not but I was so excited to see little Danielle Bradberry win! Someone else found their voice this week, 3 guesses who and the first 2 don't count. My little Nacho discovered her voice this week and she's telling all sorts of stories to anyone who'll listen. That is except to me when we Face-Time. Silly girl just sits there and smiles and tries to grab me and then cries when I sign off. Lucky for me her sweet momma got some video for me or I wouldn't believe it. Here she is-

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card and that it inspires you to let loose and have some fun. If you liked today's card or have questions, I hope you'll leave me a comment below. I love hearing from you and your comments really so make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin it, 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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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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