What a GREAT Weekend!

Before I get to the crafty stuff, I have some bragging to do. Branden and Lauren (my step-children) took part in a math contest on Saturday. Lauren was one of two students selected from the 4th grade at her elementary school and Branden was one of two from the 5th grade. They called me on Saturday afternoon after the contest to let me know how they did. Lauren placed 3rd out of 12 students and qualified for the state contest, which will be held on April 26th at Missouri State University. Branden placed 9th out of 28, so they both did a great job! Congratulations Branden & Lauren!

Well, I had a productive weekend! We had PMS on Saturday and had a really good time. We had a small group in comparison to our past groups, but we had a blast! Here are three of the projects we made. We also made an Easter basket, but I don't have a photo yet. I'll work on that!

This is a spring bouquet that we made using chipboard and cardstock. I found the little ceramic flower pots at Hobby Lobby and we used floral foam and dowel rods to "plant" the flowers. Flowers were stamped with Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, and Rose Red inks. We used classic ink on everything except the chipboard flower. For that one, we rubbed a craft ink pad over the surface of the chipboard until the color was good and then added Iridescent Ice embossing powder and set it with a heat tool. We had several different ribbons to choose from. I used the Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon on this particular bouquet. After the flowers were "planted" we ran 1/8" (they're just skinny... no one really measured) strips of So Saffron through the crimper and then wadded it up before placing it in the pot on top of the floral foam. Ok... this part is VERY technical... flowers are secured to the dowel rods with Scotch tape. :)







Our next project was a card to match our flower bouquet. We used the "Cutie Pie" DSP, along with Certainly Celery, So Saffron, and Whisper White CS. We stamped the small flower from "Ginormous Flowers" in Certainly Celery classic ink on a metal edge tag and adhere that with a glue dot after adding a So Saffron brad. "Friend" was stamped in Certainly Celery from the "Fundamental Phrases" stamp set and then punched out with the round tab punch. We added faux stitching to the bottom piece of DSP and then tied a piece of Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon around the front. This was CASE'd from the current Stampin' Up'! catalog, page 93 (as was the bouquet).






This is the Easter card we made at PMS. This was CASE'd from fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Brenda Taylor. The base of the card is Pretty In Pink with a layer of So Saffron over that. We added a piece of Spring Fling DSP to the top half and stamped "happy easter" from "A Good Egg" on the bottom. The chick was stamped on Whisper White using Jet Black StazOn. We colored it with So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie markers. The chick was stamped again on scratch paper using Jet Black StazOn. We stamped the flower image over the top of the chick again in StazOn. The flowers were colored with SU! markers in Pretty In Pink, Sage Shadow and So Saffron. We cut the egg part (chicken butt) out using paper snips and covered the entire thing with Versamark ink. We added Iridescent Ice embossing powder over that and set it with a heat tool. The egg was then added to the chick, which was layered over So Saffron and Pretty In Pink CS. Before adhering this piece, we added a piece of Pretty In Pink grosgrain ribbon with a ribbon slide from "Hodgepodge Hardware" to the front of our card. Thanks, Brenda, for the inspiration!!






This card was inspired by Beate's weekend sketch challenge and by a co-worker. I don't actually know the co-worker, but she has an 8 year old niece, Mariah, who has Osteosarcoma (the most common type of bone cancer and the sixth most common type of cancer in children) and is having surgery today to have a leg amputated. We (Mariah's aunt's co-workers) decided to have a card shower for Mariah. Everyone was encouraged to bring a card in today with postage so that they could all be mailed to Mariah at the same time. This card has a base of Pretty in Pink and then a layer of Sage Shadow. I stamped the flower from "So Much" in Jet Black StazOn on glossy white CS. I then used sponge daubers with Classic ink in Pretty In Pink, Sage Shadow, and So Saffron to color the flowers and the background. I used a glue pen to add Dazzling Diamonds glitter to each flower (I know how much girls love glitter!!). I used the teensy-weensy flower from "Time Well Spent" to create a border around the sentiment and added a piece of Pretty In Pink grosgrain ribbon to the left side of the card. I hope Mariah likes it! Please keep her and her family in your prayers.


Next, I needed some manly birthday cards and came up with this using Beate's weekend sketch challenge again. I used the "Wanted" stamp set with Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla, and Really Rust CS. The paisley patterned paper is from the Outlaw DSP. "Celebrate Your Day" is stamped in Chocolate Chip and is from the "Celebrate Everything" stamp set. The medallion has four layers, two of which are "popped up" on Stampin' Dimensionals. I used the Chocolate Chip poly-twill ribbon (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stuff!!) from the current Occasions Mini Catalog (see link above on right).





This card was created using last Wednesday's sketch challenge from Splitcoast stampers. I used "traitor paper" along with Brilliant Blue, So Saffron, and Whisper White CS. "Birthday Whimsy" was used and I stamped the packages in Old Olive, Rose Red, and So Saffron (they were stamped off on my grid paper several times before actually stamping on my CS to give them the faded appearance). The sentiment was stamped in Brilliant Blue classic ink. I used Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut the circles (regular and scalloped).






This card was CASE'd from Jenny Moors and I really, really like hers! The card base is Blue Bayou and Soft Sky CS. I pierced the edges of the Soft Sky piece. The truck was stamped in Blue Bayou classic ink on Whisper White and then again on Blue Bayou. I cut it out using paper snips and a craft knife and then used a versamark pen and embossing powder to add the chrome and tires. The Blue Bayou truck was then layered over the one stamped on Whisper White. I used Spellbinders Nestabilities to create the ovals (regular and scalloped). Images are from the "Loads Of Love" stamp set.







This was adapted from this card for my sister-in-law, Tammy. She fell in love with the card and wanted me to make another one that she could put by her desk at home. I found these great three-dimensional photo frames at Michaels that worked great for adding the flowers with Stampin' Dimensionals.

WHEW - That's all for now. Toodles!