3 Cheers For You / NAC#5

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! *HappyDance* That means lots and lots of time for stamping, in between my favorite Olympic activities of course. Lol! I've got another Challenge card for you today. Wow that's 3 in 1 week. :) A year ago I wasn't even thinking about entering any of my cards in a challenge. Just the thought made me nervous. Boy has this Scaredy Cat changed. Oh, I'm still a Scaredy Cat, but I'm trying not to be quite so Scaredy. :)

Have you checked out the Nacho Average Challenge page yet? If you haven't I've got 2 words for you....Why Not!?! No, Really...Why Not!?! You need to check them out. Well, not right now, but when you're done here, kay? Kay. They have great sketch challenges and color challenges and a fab DT too.


Here's the card I made for this week's challenge-

Congratulations Card featuring
Happy Hour Stamp Set and Patio Party DSP

Look at me, all mixing and matching the DSP! Yes that is really my card. : p  This has been the strangest week for me with my stamping. Most of my cards didn't turn out as planned, usually because of Operator Error. Yep, totally my fault. This one is just another example. :'( Overall, I'm happy (not ecstatic, but happy) with it in the end, but I really wish it was how I had envisioned it. Somebody, please tell me this happens to you to and I'm not the only one!

Here's the sketch I was working with-

 As soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do with those banners, I just had to figure out what I was going to do in addition to the treatment. I did a card for my daughter earlier in the year where I made a "flip-up" card front. You can see it here.  I wanted to flip these flags too. I finally decided on a new stamp set, Happy Hour, and how I would work everything out and was so excited. Yeah, that's where everything began to fall apart. Teach me to get overly excited, huh? Maybe if I'd had a little "happy hour" before trying this I may not have been so stressed about it. Of course I probably would have ended up with even more mistakes.

To create my card front I used a base of Summer Starfruit (it's growing on me) and Patio Party DSP, cut to the dimensions on the challenge site. I then scored my DSP with my Simply Scored Tool, I think at the 1/4" mark, reinforced the folds and then adhered the smaller edge to my base with Tombow. Oh and somehow I totally just forgot about the fact that having turned my card to "landscape" from "portrait" would prevent me from simply wrapping my ribbon all the way around my card. *HeadDesk*  Way to go Einstein! Ok, so what I really said was not blog friendly, but you get the idea. I didn't realize this until I was putting the finishing touches on the card. As I didn't have an extra layer under my flags, I couldn't secure my ribbon under that. Well, I was too invested at this point to just give up, you'll see what I mean in a minute. I ended up using my paper trimmer to cut a small slit on the fold line just big enough to thread my ribbon through and wrapped it that way. Not ideal, but it worked and allowed me to add that element of the sketch. *SMH!!!*

Oh and by the way to get my flagged ends, I simply cut up 3/4" in the center of each strip of DSP with my Paper-Snips and then cut from each corner to that point. I know lots of people do well with the whole slide your paper into the corner of a square punch but I can never get it "just right" and then I end up cutting a little more and a little more, trying to get it "just right" until my DSP is just a little nubbin. Kinda like when you have a whole sheet cake and you cut your first slices and enjoy it but then the cake keeps calling you back because the cut isn't straight, so you have to keep coming back and cutting it again to make it straight, even though that never seems to work because you can hear it calling you from anywhere in your house and sometimes from outside of your house too. And the next thing you know, there's no cake left! Why is there no cake left? Because of course you couldn't just throw away the piece you just trimmed. After all, it wasn't that big, right? Of course not! So you ate it, wouldn't want it to go to waste. All those hungry people and everything. Oh Noes! Food Baby and and an empty cake holder. Not that I know anything about that of course. I can just imagine that happening.

Tammy over at NAC is so kind to give measurements for her sketches as a guideline. Silly me, I just took those guidelines and ran with them. Sometimes you really have to just take a breath, or in my case a bigger breath and wait before diving in the deep end of the pool, off of the 10 meter platform. Yes, I did just throw an Olympic reference in there. (And way to go USA for medaling in that event!) If you look back up at the original picture, it looks pretty good, I'm really happy with how it looks actually, because if you've been by here before you know how much it stresses me to mix DSP's. Just makes me sweat! Augh!!! Well, here's the problem I did all measurements to make sure everything would fit and it did. Woo-Hoo! But I didn't account for a portion of the flags being under the ribbon. Ruh-Roh! My original plan was going to look like this-
Stamp
Stamp,Stamp
Stamp, Stamp, Stamp
I had it all measured out, down to the amount of space in-between each stamp. Then I laid the already cut strips of DSP over the practice piece of paper. Yes, I had a practice piece. Don't judge, it's the OCD in me. Laughing is ok though. :) I had to go back to the crunching the numbers. Ok, done and I was going to be able to swing it. YES! I inked up my stamp, stamped it on my cardstock and realized my error. I had inked up my practice stamp with my markers to omit a portion of the stamp. @#&%!!!!!! Oh my studio assistants would have plugged their furry little ears if they only had thumbs. Well, at this point as I had stamped on my directly on my c/s, I was stuck, so I forged on. Here's what I came up with instead-

I just realized it's  kinda cool how you get
more pretty DSP when you flip the banners. Yea!

 When you see the inside it makes a little more sense-

Inside of Congratulations Card featuring
Happy Hour Stamp Set

Get it? 3 Cheers. I guess if I had been able to do the card the way I had envisioned it would have been 6 Cheers instead of 3 but I was going for a design concept. Sometimes I think I should just stick to the basics and not try to get fancy.

Can I just say the inside is probably my favorite part of the card? It's the only part of the card that didn't give me grief! Look at my little Champagne flute-

All Crystal-ly and sparkly and shiny...Oh My! LOL! I crack myself up sometimes. It really is ok to laugh at me or if it makes you feel better, just consider it laughing with me. : D I inked up my stamp with VersaMark, then applied my Heat and Stick Powder and Heat Embossed. Next came my Dazzling Diamonds and a few sweet little rhinestones for the bubbles.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you like my Hot-Mess of a Challenge Card and I hope it inspires you to try something new today. Maybe a challenge or maybe a new technique or maybe just not throwing your project in the trash because it simply won't come together. There's three main reasons I don't do that. 1- I always show you the good and the bad here. 2- The good Catholic girl in me hates the thought of that waste. 3- I love our products too much to just throw them away. The thought hurts my heart just a little and makes me sad. I know, you're shaking your head at me again. It's ok, I'm doing it too. See what good friends we are, we're in sync like Bobsey-Twins or something.

I love hearing from you so if you liked today's card or have a thought or question about it, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I love hearing from you and they always make my day. If you'd like to + 1 or Pin any of my posts, I've put the buttons on my posts 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! I hope you'll make it back soon to see all of the things I have in store for you. I wish you the happiest of weekends, full of time for Family, Friends and of course, lots of time for Creativity! 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 Sparkly, Sprinkly, Sketch Challenge (Try saying that 3 times fast!) SSC #264/ My Challenge #30

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday to you. I hope you had a great weekend!

Although I didn't get as many cards/projects made as I would have liked, I did get some fun ones done. I also got all of my new stamp sets conditioned, got some laundry and yard work done and even got my car's state and emissions testing done. Which it passed, thankfully. You know what that meant? It meant that after $400.00 for new front brakes (2 weeks ago) and $30.00 for emissions testing, it was in fabulous shape for the thieves that stole it last night! Yep, I said stole it. Have you ever walked out of your house and just knew something wasn't right but couldn't quite put your fingers on it? That was me this morning. I walked out and was about to get into my SUV and thought "Something isn't right here." What was it....Think, Think, Think... I turned around in a circle and that's when it hit me! I was standing in an empty- parking space.!!! *Palm to Forehead* Silly me, I look up and down the neighborhood to see if it has somehow magically moved during the night to another space, but NOPE, still no-where to be found. Thank-God, I had my SUV. I left for the commuter lot and called the police who I will call again this evening when I get home so they can come and do the paperwork. The good/bad news, it wan't just me they hit. Someone stole my best-friend's dad's truck out of his driveway last night too. He lives about 15 minutes from me. Those were some busy thieves! What a way to start the week!

Wanna know a better way? Today's card. It's another sketch from those fab ladies over at Stamping 411. I have to say when I first saw it, I was a little worried. It really had me stumped. I was going through all of my stamp sets in my mind, trying to figure out what I could use. I was really hoping to use one of my new sets but nothing was coming to mind. And then it hit me, and here's what I came up with-

Birthday Card featuring
Cupcake Builder Punch and Patio Party DSP

Can I just say how excited this card makes me? No, really. Like I'm on a sugar high from all those sweet, sugary, little sprinkles. *Happy Dance*

You probably know how literally I interpret sketches by now. All I could see were those three butterfly areas, What in the world was I going to do? Then I thought of my cupcake punch and the matching stamp set and I knew just what I wanted to try.

Here's the sketch-

I think the only thing I'm not sure about is the little bow on the cupcake wrapper. I was really happy without it. I'm not sure...what do you think? Otherwise, I'm so excited. I just want to take a big ole bite out of it. Best part...Calorie free. Lol!

Here's a closer look-

It's kind of hard to see, but I used my Simply Scored to make the cupcake wrapper and then lightly sponged over it to give some dimension and depth. I used vanilla scented embossing powder mixed with some Dazzling Diamonds for the "frosting" and then added my sweet little candy sprinkles and topped them with some sparkly, sugary,shine. Both DSP's are from the Patio Party collection and my base and scalloped circle punch is Raspberry Ripple and my mat is Primrose Petals. Even though my Bakers Twine is Cherry Cobbler I love how it matches. I mean seriously...if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. Right? I love how with SU, everything coordinates so easily.

Here's the inside

Birthday Card featuring
Make A Cupcake and Cupcake Builder Punch

The sentiment is from the Make A Cupcake set as is the image. I used Crumb Cake and Primrose Petals and stamped off 1x for the Crumb Cake and 2x for the Primrose Petals. More confetti sprinkles and a lot of love from Tink and my card was complete! Yea!!! :)

No Monday Musings today as I am musing enough about my stolen car. Why can't stuff like this happen before you spend all that money? Those new brakes were one of the reasons I'm not getting on a plane to SLC and my first SU Convention tomorrow. Oh well, who am I to question the timing of things in God's Great Plan for my life? It is what it is. I guess that means I have an extra parking spot for my class participants. Glass half full and all that.

For my friends out there headed to convention... I hope you have a wonderful time. Take lots of pictures, get lots of cool swaps, take copious notes and come back ready to share with the rest of us. But most of all, have fun. My good stamping pal Michelle invited me to do a 6x6 recipe swap with her and I am sooo excited to say I did my first ever convention swaps, my first scrapbook type swap and my first hybrid swap all rolled into one. I'll be posting pics of them later this week.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so very appreciated. I hope you like today's card and it inspires you to make/do something fun today. I love hearing from you and read all of my comments and try to respond to most as well. If you liked today's card and have just a moment to drop me a line, you'd make my day. If you wanted to +1 or Pin it, I've added those buttons to my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

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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Bargello Technique - Part Deux. Just Try, Try Again

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! Hope you're having a great week. I just have one more work-day then I'm off for a long weekend and a concert trip to Hershey! Woot!

Do you ever wish life had a replay button? Kinda like that movie with Adam Sandler, Remote I think it was called, but where life doesn't go crazy if you change one little thing? Boy, howdy! There are some days I think I would have to re-do multiple times just to get them right. Of course the good thing about having something go just not right enough that you wanted to do it over is, hopefully you learn something from it and don't make the same mistakes over and over and over again like Bill Murray in Ground Hog's Day. LOL!

Somehow with my cards that's happened now two weeks in a row. First with a sketch challenge I did and then last week with my End of the Week Technique. Now, don't get me wrong, I liked last week's technique card, I just felt like I could do something more. I don't know, it's hard to explain. I also think that even though I staggered my strips I did them evenly, square for square, instead of staggering them in the middle of the squares. I think this gave it more of a "Patchwork Quilt" look than a true "Bargello" look. So, you know me, I had to give it another try. Since I told you I'd try again and post it for you, I do my best to stay true to my word.

Here's what I came up with-

Bargello Technique Featuring
Patio Party DSP

I think this card more accurately reflects the Bargello technique. As you can see I used a stair-step technique here instead of a zig-zag. I'm very happy with how this one turned out.

Here's two things I learned-

1- Our Glue-Stick works great for this! Shocker- No Tombow. No, this is not a sign of the impending apocalypse. I used Tombow on my last card since I didn't have the adhesive sheets and while it worked, it did leave a few areas that I had to go back and touch up. (Just keeping it Reals, folks!) With the Glue-Stick, I just swiped the whole base piece and laid my strips down. So Easy!

2- Using a DSP that already has "strips" of different patterns in it, means you don't have to cut out the initial strips and lay them side by side to cut them out. I don't know about you but anything that is going to save me time is fine with me. Additionally if your DSP Coordination Challenged, you know who you are... it's hard to mix and match your patterns, this is great! Heck SU not only picked patterns that would go together they even laid them out in a nice pattern for me. SWEET!!!! Thanks SU! :) I can not even begin to tell you how much stress this took away from me. No, Seriously! One shouldn't have to stress over something that is supposed to be "Stress Relief". Am I right!?!

I adhered the Bargello panel to my Summer Starfruit base with Dimensionals. I'm going to fall in love with that color if it takes me 2 years.

Please, Please, Please, Don't let it take 2 years!

Here's the inside-

I stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, and the butterflies from Make A Cake in Midnight Muse and I was done. Maybe 30 minutes max,start to finish and that's with cutting and attaching all the strips.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you thought it was a worthwhile second attempt. Using the DSP with all the patterns really helped. This is definitely something I'll try again. Not only do I hope you liked it, I hope it inspires you to give yourself permission to have a "do-over", even if you just want to improve on the first go-round. I love hearing from you, it always makes my day. If you get a chance I'd love to hear what you think, and as always if you try this technique or just have a re-do, I'd love to see what you come up with. If you like today's card and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

On a non-stamping related note, I've started a new blog called A Better Shan. It's an honest look at my attempts to be a better me, in all aspects of my life starting with my journey to a healthier weight right down to weigh-ins. I'll have some recipes and links on there too for some healthy/ier noms. I just started it, but if you have a chance to stop by and join me on my journey, I'd love to have you along for the ride.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a Great day! 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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A Patio Party Challenge - SSC #261 / My Challenge #27

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! I hope your week has started off in a positive way. It's a beautiful day in the DMV. I love being able to look out of a window in my office. For the last 3 1/2 years I had an interior office with no windows and this makes me sooo very happy.

Wanna know what else makes me happy? Today's card. It's one I did Saturday evening after a rough afternoon. It makes me smile because, I stepped a little "out of the box" and didn't follow the sketch exactly. It's pretty close, but for me changing one element completely is a stretch. You know it's true! I used the Patio Party DSP and the Make A Cake stamp set that SU gave me for free, just for sponsoring someone during Sale-A-Bration this year. It's the first time I think I've used the stamp set and I think I'm going to enjoy playing with it. It has lots of different combinations that you can use.

Here's today's card-

Happy Birthday Card featuring
Patio Party DSP & Make A Cake Stamp Set

I'm so happy with how it turned out! Wanna know a secret? I didn't even use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for the cake layers. *Gasp* Lol! (I was shaking that ole Scaredy Cat by the tail, yes I was!) I used a few of the new In-Colors for this. Primrose Petals for the base, and mats of Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse. The sentiment is from the Cupcake Builder set, how sweet is that font? I inked my cake stamps up with my Raspberry Ripple Stampin Write Marker and the pedestal with my Baja Breeze one. The center layer is colored in with Primrose Petals Classic Ink Pad and my Blender Pen. I took the colors for the pennants from the card and used my Crumb Cake marker for the poles, using the edge of a scrap piece of c/s as a guide, to darken them up a little and extend them all the way down to the cake. I hung my banners from a piece of Island Indigo Bakers Twine that I tied little bows to on each end. I secured the bows to the c/s with a Mini-Glue Dot that I rolled onto itself to make it smaller. The banners are secured front to back with another Mini-Glue Dot each in between the layers. They are left unsecured to the card so they can move a little and to make it easier to fit into an envelope. The Baja Breeze Seam Binding is wrapped around the card front and tied into a bow, easy peasy.

Here's the sketch I used. It's from the great ladies over at Stamping 411. Check them out, after you're done here though! They have the best sketches and lots of cool tutorials and information. Not to mention their DT ROCKS!

I changed the strip to my banners, otherwise I stuck to the sketch. I was pretty proud of myself, I have to say, with that move. :) Doesn't happen often, but I'll take it when it does!

Here's the inside-

Once again I used the sentiment from the Create a Cupcake set. I just did a one layer cake for this panel. Pretty simple for me, as far as insides go, but I like it anyways.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope the fab ladies over at Stamping 411 do too! Your comments always make my day, so if you get a chance I'd love to hear what you think. If you liked today's card and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you'll come back soon. I've got lots to show you.

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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Just Try, Try, Again.... SSC #260- Part Deux

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a great week so far. :) It's a scorcher here in the DMV today, 90's, close to 100 with the humidity and heat index. Lucky for me, I'm getting my walking & running done inside. You know what I 'd love to reward myself with....ok, besides a refreshing beverage, a nice cupcake. However that would pretty much use up my all the activity points I just earned so how about I share a calorie/points free version? Ok, so you can't taste it, but I hope it makes you smile anyways, and just think everytime you smile you're using up calories. I like burning calories! According to this article quoting a plastic surgeon, it takes one more muscle to smile than to frown. Just one more reason to smile today. :D Anyways, hopefully this card will make you smile.

Oh, and before I forget- to all those people that let me rant yesterday about my frustrations over the card I made, thanks for not telling me to "Be Quiet" and to "Just Deal". To those of you that took the time to message me or leave nice comments, Thanks so much!!!! You made my day and really made me glad I had persevered and pushed on instead of giving up. Bear Hugs to you, "Grrrrrrrrr". :)

So, I decided to give the Stamping 411 challenge another try. Here's what I came up with-

Celebrate Card featuring
2012-2014 In Colors, Patio Party DSP , Friendly Phrases & Cupcake  Builder Stamp Set & Punch

Here's the sketch-

I stuck to sketch, just turning the orientation. I decided since this was my second attempt, I would challenge myself just a little extra. First- I used one of new In-Colors, Summer Starfruit, for my base and a mat. In case you haven't read it here before, I think this is the "Peach Parfait" of the new In-Colors. Still not sure I like it, but I'm determined to give it a shot. I think it looks best with really saturated colors and of course, our DSP's make it look pretty good...maybe it'll grow on me. Second, see that Baja Breeze seam binding.... OMGoodness! Do you know how many times I pulled that up and then stuck it back down? Soooo many! I'm sure it's hard for those of you that don't know me IRL to imagine the absolute "fits" it gave me to not have nice neat ruffles and folds. The OCD was in high gear let me just tell you! I kid you not, I spent at least 15 minutes laying that ribbon down. LOL!, Silly I know. Are you smiling yet? Boy-Howdy do I wish SU had kept the pleated ribbons. No muss, no fuss, no fits.  Oh well, I like how it turned out in the end.

If you're not smiling yet, look at this-

Yep, that's my studio assistant, Bitty Kitty, looking down at me from her perch at the top of my stamping area. Of course in her mind, she's not my assistant, I'm hers. She's just making sure I get my cards done to help pay for her mortgage. Those of you with cats will totally get that. Those without...just imagine what she's thinking of me and my meltdown over ribbon, that should make you smile!

I should have taken a closer picture of my little cupcake, but I was tired and forgot to. But if you look real close, you can see the added details. I first thought about getting out my paper crimper, but since it just retired I wanted to see what I could do to get the same look without it. I punched my cupcake base out of Crumbcake c/s, using my Cupcake Builder Punch, and then using my Simply Scored Tool, made score lines ever 1/8th inch. when I flipped the c/s over it looked like a cupcake wrapper. Score! I then swiped a sponge with some left over Soft Suede on it, over the ridges to make them stand out more. The "frosting" was stamped with Primrose Petals. I stamped off three times then stamped onto Very Vanilla c/s and punched it out with my Cupcake Builder Punch as well. I then outlined it with Tombow and then put swirls of Tombow in the center for "frosting swirls" and dipped it in a mixture of Vanilla embossing powder and Dazzling Diamonds. I can't find the blog link to it but I think it was Selene Kempton's blog that had a project using this combination and called it Frosting. Works great like this, but also with heat embossing. I popped the frosting portion up with Dimensionals.

Here's the inside-

I inked up my new set Friendly Phrases in Midnight Muse and stamped onto a piece of Very Vanilla c/s. I then stamped my cupcake using Crumb Cake and Primrose Petal, both of which were stamped off first. Next, I let Tink have her way with the frosting. No dimensional frosting here like the front of the card, just enough to make it shine (and smell good).

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and I really hope it inspires you to re-try something you wish you had done a little more to your liking before. I'd love to hear what you think. Your comments always make my day. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have an Amazing day filled with lots of smiles. 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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Sneak Peak and a Challenge

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday. I hope you're having an Amazing week!

The sun is shining here in the DMV and the birds nested under my window are singing. Should reach low 80's today...Sweet! Although I hear my little friends all day, you know what I haven't seen yet? Butterflies. I love them, always have. I especially love when you are lucky enough to have one come and rest on your hand. How  Incredible is that? We must seem like such huge, moving, giants and yet they trust enough to come and settle on us. WOW!!!

What's got me thinking butterfly's? Mr. UPS left me a package on my doorstep yesterday and I went in, sat down and promptly started going through all my new sneak peak goodies. One of my goodies was the new Patio Party DSP which I got as part of a recruitment bundle. SU takes such good care of us. I got two new stamp sets, DSP and new ribbon too!

I don't know about you, but whenever I get my DSP I look at each page and flip every other sheet around so when I go to look for a DSP to use I can see all of my selections without having to flip them over. Saves me time and frustration. When I was looking at and setting up my Patio Party DSP, I saw a sheet with nothing but pretty little butterflies. I knew I had to use it. I even had two different sketch challenges in mind to use it with. :) How often does that happen? For me not very. LOL

Do you ever know just how you want your card/project to turn out and have it seem so simple and then not have it look or feel right? That's what happened to me last night as I was putting this card together. I chose my sketch, a very simple and straightforward one, and yet I struggled. In the end, I was happy with my card, but what I thought was a short straight path turned out to be, at least mentally, twisty and bumpy. Let me know what you think.

Here's today's card-

Sneak Peek, Patio Party, 2012-2014 In Colors

Love, love, love the New DSP, ribbons and In-Colors. This card is chock-full of sneak peeks for you. I started with a base of Primrose Petals and layered on the Patio Party DSP. It makes me think of a summer night where someone has run through a meadow and surprised the butterflies and sent them soaring. I adhered a new strip of 1/4in stitched grosgrain ribbon to the edge of the DSP with SNAIL and tucked and secured the ends underneath the DSP. For the butterflies I used my Beautiful Wings Embosslet and the new Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, and Summer Starfruit from the new In-Colors and a few Baja Breeze ones for accents. They were mounted with Mini-Glue Dots to punched circles of Baja Breeze and Whisper White c/s. The banner is from the new Itty Bitty Banners. There's a set of framelets that coordinates with these, but since I totally forgot these were part of my freebies, I didn't order them. Silly Shan!!! I inked the stamp with our my Midnight Muse Stampin Write Marker to get just the sentiment, stamped it and then handcut the banner. A few butterflies and 3 little pearls to echo the sketch and the front was done.

Here's the Sketch I used. It's from Sketch Frenzy Friday and if you haven't given them a try, I highly suggest it. They have great sketches each week and a fabulous group of ladies on their Design Team.

I stuck pretty close to the sketch. My only differences was to stagger the circles and to use pearls on the flag instead of off to the side. I hope they'll like my offering.

When it came to the inside, I was totally stumped! I actually considered leaving it till later and just not showing the inside. If you have seen any of my posts, you know this is just simply not done! I just couldn't think of a sentiment or decoration. As I went through my stamp sets for a sentiment I could use, I found one in one of my favorite sets Petite Pairs and I was off and running again. Here's the inside-

Truth be told as soon as I saw this sentiment, I thought of my sister Lisa. She is my Rock! We keep each other going whenever times get tough and luckily it's not too often that we have to "raise each other up". Being with her is so easy, like watching butterflies effortlessly floating skyward. I don't think she reads this everyday, but if you're reading today Lis... Love You! You're the Best!!!!!

I stamped the sentiment using our new ink-pads. LOVE THEM! OMGosh, they are soooo amazing! Getting a complete set is on my wishlist. If there are any stamping fairy god-mothers out there who listen out for heartfelt desires...Hear Me! :)  I added more butterflies to the inside, alternating them so the embossed and de-bossed sides showed. I then added some sponging and a little Dazzling Diamonds for a sweet little glittery surprise and my card was done.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and I hope it makes you think of someone special in your life and inspires you to create something new. If you liked today's card, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it I've added the buttons to my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

I hope to see you back soon for this weeks End of the Week Technique.

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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