WWC327 - Dawn's Challenge: All Things Feminine

Well, what do you know, I found one more of my Graphic 45 cards.  I thought I had shared them all but I came across this one and am sharing with you at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. 

For all of our challenge details and to share your project, visit the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge by clicking the image below.  We’d love to have you join us.  You have until Monday, November 1st at 6:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time to link up your project.

Thanks for stopping by,

Marsha

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #118 - Penny's "Mom" Theme Challenge

Today the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge has a theme challenge for you.  With it being so close to Mother's Day, Penny challenged us to create a project with the them "Mom".  Appropriate, don't you think?

To the card base of Tip Top Taupe, I added a layer of the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper.  On a layer of Shimmery White, I stamped the silhouette image and sentiment from the Penny Black stamp set So Blessed using Night of Navy ink.  The hat and ribbons were colored using the Sweet Sugarplum Stampin' Write Marker.  The little butterflies are from the Stampin' Up! stamp set In the Meadow and stamped in Night of Navy ink.

For the flowers, I stamped images from the Stampin' Up! stamp sets Flower Shop and Petite Petals onto Whisper White cardstock using Night of Navy ink and Sweet Sugarplum ink.  Then, I punched them out using the Pansy Punch and the Petite Petals Punch.  I punched two Night of Navy and one Sweet Sugarplum shapes from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and added them to the center of the flowers.  Then, I added a touch of Golden Sunset Glitter Drops by Nuvo.   

For all the challenge details and to share your project, visit the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge by clicking the image below.  We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday, May 15th at 6:00 p.m. Central Time to link your project.

I've also entered my card in the Just Us Girls Challenge.  For all the challenge details and to share your project, click the image below.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Wacky Watercooler April Blog Hop

Welcome to our April "Retirement Means Goodbye" Blog Hop. Today's hop is all about what is retiring at the end of May.  It's always sad to say goodbye.  So, if you've not gotten everything on your wish list, now is the time to do so.

Each month, on the third Thursday of the month, a group of us get together to hop and share projects from Stampin' Up!'s current catalogs.  It's always a lot of fun.

You should be coming to my blog from Sheri Lee.  After your visit with me, you'll head on over to Penny Hanuszak.  And, as always, our Hop runs in a circle.  Whether you start at the top and go forward or start at the bottom and go backward, you will always wind up where you started.

My first project highlights the retiring 2015-2017 In Colors.  I made a set of note cards using the Sheltering Tree stamp set.  I first stamped the tree using Tip Top Taupe.  Then, I stamped the leaves in Cucumber Crush, Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder.  The sentiment was stamped using Tip Top Taupe as is the tiny leaves image in the lower left corner of each envelope.

One of the retiring stamp sets Oh So Succulent.  I'm sorry to see it go as succulents are quite popular at this time.  For this project, I continued using the 2015-0017 In Colors.  I started with a card base of Whisper White Thick to which I added a combined layer of Mint Macaron and Whisper White.  I didn't use the die-cuts to make a succulent, just some nice looking flowers.  They were cut out of Delightful Dijon and Watermelon Wonder using the Succulent Framelits Dies.  The leaves are cut from Cucumber Crush again using the Succulent Framelits Dies.  I stamped the sentiment using Tip Top Taupe.  I added a bow of Whisper White Baker's Twine around the layer and that was that.  I'm always amazed that all of these colors work so well together.

The inspiration for this card came from Peggy Noe.   

My final project is another Mother's Day card.  I can now boast that I have all of mine done and can get them ready to put in the mail at the appropriate time.  I love being ahead of the game.

Another set that is retiring and one that I will most definitely miss is the Botanical Blooms stamp set and the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies.  For this card, I used the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies to cut the flowers out of Peekaboo Peach and the fronds out of Cucumber Crush.  The flower centers are cut from the same set of dies.  I added a bow of Early Espresso Baker's Twine to the top and the sentiment is from the Oh So Succulent stamp set and stamped using Early Espresso ink.

And that, as they say, is that from me.  The next stop on your tour is Penny Hanuszak.  She always has such great projects.  To see her wonderful projects, click the image below.

If you'd like to revisit Sheri Lee and see her wonderful projects again, click the image below.

To start at the beginning you can click the image below to go back to the Wacky Watercooler Stamping Blog.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Happy Mother's Day

Talk about a gloomy, rainy day...well, let's not talk about it.  Let's talk about this pretty card I made for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge.  It was a perfect day to spend in the craft room getting some things done as well as spending some time creating.

On a card base of Rich Razzleberry, I added a layer of Mint Macaron that I first cut off using the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies.  It gave me the curvy line I needed for the sketch.  Then, I attached a piece of Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper to it and placed it on the Rich Razzleberry.  I do like the way those two colors look together.

The flowers were stamped in Sweet Sugarplum ink onto Whisper White using the Flower Shop stamp set and the Petite Petals stamp set.  They were punched out using the Pansy Punch, the Petite Petals Punch and the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  To the centers of the flowers I added some Golden Sunset Glitter Drops by Nuvo.  The branches are punched out of Mossy Meadow cardstock using the Bird Builder Punch.  The sentiment is the Oh So Succulent stamp set.  To finish it off I added some sequins.

One of the things I like about this card is that it is made up of things I already had cut out or punched and bits of paper left from previous projects.  My stash of "left overs" is getting smaller. 

The sketch I used is from the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge.  For all the challenge details and to share your project, click the image below.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Happy Mother's Day

These are the beautiful flowers I received for Mother's Day from my youngest son, Mike and his wife, Jody, along with their three boys, Dustin, Zachary and Nicholas.  They look so nice sitting in front of my window.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

A Parade of Pretty Flowers

Last Friday I received some very pretty flowers for Mother's Day from my youngest son, Michael, his wife, Jody and their boys, Zachary and Nicholas.  Since then it has been so much fun to watch them continue to bloom.  The first picture was taken on the first day just after I put them in the vase.  From there you can see the progression of the blooms.  One of the lilies is huge!  Oh, and the living room smells wonderful!  It was a wonderful Mother's Day.  All three of my boys sent texts wishing me a great day and my oldest son, Wayne, called me all the way from Afghanistan.  He'll be coming home for a visit in July and I can't wait to see him.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

The Friday Mashup! Challenge #208

Happy Mother's Day!  See that pretty flower in my photo?  It is from the beautiful flowers Mike, Jody, Zachary and Nicholas sent me for Mother's Day.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  But that's not the only one that was in the bouquet.  This is the one I rescued as it was drooping over and had a bent stem but I knew it would revive if I put it in its own little vase.  The full bouquet is lovely and I'll show you a picture of it once all of the blooms are open.  It has several more lilies like the one below and some purple flowers that are just opening up and aren't quite ready to reveal their true identities.

Along with the flowers, came a small box of chocolates.  It worked perfect for this week's Friday Mashup Challenge.  We were to create a that was recycled or upclycled or create a project for Mother's Day or put them together and mash it up!  I decided to upcycle the candy box and make a boxed set of 3 x 3 cards.  The cards are made from Crisp Cantaloupe card stock layered with the same little dotted patterned paper as the bottom layer of the flowers.  Since there are no chocolates in the box, I thought the sentiment from the Lovely Amazing You stamp set was most fitting.

Stamp Sets:  Lovely Amazing You, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Ink:  Early Espresso; Card Stock:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack; Accessories & Tools:  Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Tangelo Twist Thick Baker's Twine, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Glue Dots, SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin' Trimmer.  All Stampin' Up!® product unless otherwise noted.

Here is how the way the box and the flowers looked on day one.

For all the challenge details and to play along, visit The Friday Mashup!

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Watercooler Challenges #23

Welcome to our latest edition of Watercooler Challenges.  With Mother's Day being just a week away, we are celebrating Moms.  My mother loved flowers.  Her favorites were yellow roses and lilacs.  Every year I would give her some flowers and take her out for lunch after church.  We had such good times together.  

Stamp Sets:  Crazy about You, Everything Eleanor, Flower Shop, Petite Petals; Inks:  Baked Brown Sugar, Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Mossy Meadow; Card Stock:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Lost Lagoon, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White; Accessories & Tools:  Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Pearl Basic Jewels, Bermuda Bay Sequins Trim, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, SNAIL Adhesive, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Paper Snips, Stampin' Trimmer

For our challenge, I chose this pretty bouquet of flowers as inspiration.    For all the details and to join in the creativity, visit Watercooler Challenges.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Secret Garden

Flower shapes was just the thing I need on this bright winter day.  The Friday Mashup! was just want I needed to get going on this card.  You could create a project using the suggested Embossing Folder Technique or create one with Mix & Match Shapes or you could "mash it up" using the technique and the shapes.  I tried my best.  :-)

My first attempt was not good so you aren't going to see that one!  :-)  I used the opposite side of the embossing folder instead of the way the directions had had you use it.  I really like the airiness of the honeycomb.  I dug out my retired Secret Garden stamp set and dies and here is what happened when I put everything together.  I was thinking of my mother and how much I miss her so I added the Happy Mother's Day sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Stamp Sets:  Secret Garden (retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes; Inks:  Blackberry Bliss, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crushed Curry, Marina Mist, Tangelo Twist, Wild Wasabi; Card Stock:  Marina Mist, Watercolor Paper, Whisper White; Accessories & Tools:  Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Secret Garden Framelits Dies (retired), Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Pearl Basic Jewels, Radiant Rain Shimmering ICE Mist (Splash of Color), Dimensionals, 2-Way Glue Pen

You can find The Friday Mashup! Challenge details HERE.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Mother's Day in Crushed Curry

The other day while browsing through some card designs, I came across the one I CASEd for my next Mother's Day card.  Simple Stems is one of the sets from the Occasions Catalog.  I'm going to be sad to see it go when the catalog retires on June 1st.  It's a great flower stamp set.

For this card, I used a monochromatic theme with the exception of the flower stem.  Everything is stamped with a varying degree of Crushed Curry.  To get the lighter shade, I simply stamped on a scratch paper to remove the heaviest of the ink.

Stamp Sets:  Simple Stems, Gorgeous Grunge, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!); Inks:  Crushed Curry, Gumball Green (Stampin' Up!); Card Stock:  Crushed Curry, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Accessories & Tools:  Rhinestones, 3/16" Corner Rounder

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Mother's Day in Aqua

One of the delights of my life is spending time with my grandchildren.  Over the past couple of days, I've had my four year old little man, Aiden, keeping me company while Mom and Dad are at work.  It's not often he is here so it's a real treat for me but I try to get certain things done before he takes over my day.

For the next few days, I'll be sharing Mother's Day cards made for my daughters-in-law and a friend.  The one today features the ombre background technique and the new Stampin' Up!® Blendabilities alcohol markers.  They will be available in the new catalog on June 2nd in a variety of colors.  The color set I chose for this card is Coastal Cabana.

Stamp Sets:  Everything Eleanor, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!); Inks:  Soft Sky, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding (Stampin' Up!); Blendabilities:  Coastal Cabana (Stampin' Up!); Card Stock:  Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Accessories & Tools:  Rhinestones

The rhinestones are colored with the alcohol marker from lightest to darkest.  You can see it best on the three on the lower right.  The top ones all look the same but that's because I didn't set my lights right when I took the photo.  Another lesson learned on my journey into photo taking.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Mother's Day in Pink

Today's card was inspired by the sketch found at Mojo Monday Card Sketch Challenge and the inspirational photo over at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge.  It made for a great combination for my final Mother's Day card.  In retrospect, I would have stamped the sentiment with the Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!) color I used for the Petite Petals flower for an additional pop of color.  I do like the way it turned out using the various shades of pink.

Stamp Sets:  Petite Petals, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!); Inks:  Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!); Card Stock:  Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Unforgettable Paper Pad (My Mind's Eye); Accessories & Tools:  Petite Petals Punch, Labels Collection Framelits, Gold Sequin Trim, Pearl Basic Jewels, Crystal Effects (Stampin' Up!)

See the thin gold strands under the flower?  I was trying to tie a bow using some Gold Baker's Twine  (Stampin' Up!).  Unfortunately, I was not have a good experience tying bows at the time and it unraveled from the twine.  Since I try to use up everything, I thought it would be a pretty addition to this card.  Different, right, but I like it.  :-)

HERE is the Pretty & Pink Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge or you can click on the image below.

You can find the sketch from Mojo Monday Card Sketch Challenge HERE or click on the image below.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

A Flower for Mother

Today I'm playing along with two challenges.  The first is a color challenge from Pals Paper Arts.  I love the combination of Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay and Real Red.  They are colors that I don't often use together but they sure do look nice.  The second challenge was a theme challenge from The Paper Players.  The theme is:  Mother.  Bringing the two challenges together made for a very pretty Mother's Day Card.

Stamp Sets:  Delightful Dozen, Flower Shop, Mixed Bunch, Petite Petals (Stampin' Up!); Inks:  Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!); Card Stock:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Real Red (Stampin' Up!); Accessories & Tools:  Blossom Punch, Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Gold Sequin Trim, Pearl Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crystal Effects (Stampin' Up!)

You can check out the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge HERE.

The Paper Players Theme Challenge can be found HERE.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

The Friday Mashup Challenge #155

It started raining yesterday and has just not stopped!  It's the kind of spring rain we needed so I'm not complaining.  It gave me the perfect reason to stay home and spend the day in my craft studio.  And, as the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers."  So, for my card today I made a pretty Calypso Coral flower.  This time The Friday Mashup Challenge gave us the options to use certain colors, a specific shape or to do both.  I tried my best to "mash it up."  I didn't add a sentiment simply because I'm not sure how I'm going to use the card.  Mother's Day, Easter, thinking of you or birthday all seem appropriate.  Guess I'll decide that when the occasion arises where I can use it.

Stamp Set:  Secret Garden (Stampin' Up!); Ink:  Calypso Coral (Stampin' Up!); Card Stock:  Wisteria Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!); Accessories & Tools:  Secret Garden Framelits, Circles Collection Framelits, 1/4" Pool Party Ribbon, Pearl Basic Jewels and  Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' UP!), Tear Drop Circles Dies (Spellbinders)

For all the details of the challenge and to play along, visit The Friday Mashup Challenge HERE.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Mother's Day Etcetera

Did you all enjoy the Wacky Watercooler March Blog Hop?  I saw several projects that had me adding more things to my wishlist.  April 10th is the date for our next hop, so mark your calendars because you won't want to miss it.  For now here is one of the projects I created today.  I was skeptical at first about the Etcetera Designer Series Paper but once I had it in hand, I fell in love with it.  I so love the colors.  My mom was a very talented seamstress and I immediately thought of her when I saw this design.

Stamp Sets:  Four Frames, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar; Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, Etcetera Designer Series Paper; Accessories & Tools:  Decorative label Punch, Large Oval Punch, Old Olive Brights Button (retired), Linen Thread, Stampin' Dimensionals

I played along with the challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches.  Just click on the image below to see all the details about their great challenges.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

It's A New Day!

And, what have I accomplished today?  Not a whole lot!  I've got two new cards in the works as well as a plaque but they are no where near the point where they can be shown.  So, I'm going to share another Graphic 45 card from the May set.  This is a Mother's Day card from the set and it happens to be one of my favorites.  Enjoy!

What a wonderful surprise!

This morning my oldest son, Wayne, sent me a text asking if I was working or at home.  When I said I was home, he said okay, I'll be there in about an hour.  I figured he was bringing over the joy stick to the Atari he gave me.  Yes, it's an old game console but I do hold the family record in Asteroids!

He said he had something else and went back out to the car to get it.  He walked in with a 39" VIZIO Flat Screen TV!  He grinned at me and said, "Happy Mother's Day!"  Of course, I started to cry and he said he knew that would happen and just gave me a big hug.

Thank you, Wayne, for such a wonderful Mother's Day gift!  My three sons are the best and I am one blessed mother.

My Day of Rest and Worship

In honor of my mother.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12

NKJV

An Oldie but a Goodie!

April will soon be gone and Mother's Day is only a bit over three weeks away.  What special thing do you have planned to do for your mother?  Going to take her out to dinner?  Attend church with her?  What ever it is, I know she will appreciate it.

Stamp Sets:  Triple Treat Flower, Delightful Dozen; Ink:  Perfect Plum; Card Stock:  Blushing Bride, Whisper White; Accessories & Tools:  Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Adorning Accents Edgelits Die, 1/2" Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Jewels Basic Rhinestone, Fancy Flower Punch, Dazzling Details

For My Wonderful Mother

There isn't much time to write this morning since I need to get myself ready for work.  But, I just had to share this card I put together last night.  Mother's Day isn't far off, you know.  Have you figured out what you are going to do for yours this year?  Surprise her with lunch and give her a nice card letting her know how much you appreciate all that she has done and continues to do for you.  Mothers are so special.

Stamp Set:  Delightful Dozen; Ink:  Soft Suede; Card Stock:  Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack; Accessories & Tools:  Extra-Large Oval Punch, Basic Bow Embossing Die, Mini Daisy Cluster Stencil, rhinestones, Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine

Clean, simple and sparkly!  She'll love it!